Girls Acting Catty by Leslie Margolis

At First Sight: Having gotten the hang of boys at her school, six grader Annabelle is about to face a tougher adversary: sixth-grade girls!

So far, Annabelle has been oblivious to the other girls in sixth grade, happily enclosed in her group of friends, until they land on the sights of the mean-girl clique of their grade: Taylor and the Three Terrors.

At the beginning, Annabelle doesn't want to get into it, as she doesn't know the other girls well enough to like them or dislike them; and she has her mom's wedding to worry about, not to mention the fact that she might be crushing on her soon-to-be stepbrother. 

But soon, Annabelle realizes that whether she wants it or not, she is in the middle of it all; and that dealing with girls is far more difficult than with boys.

Second Glance: I really liked the first book about Annabelle's adventures - Boys are Dogs - but I have to say that I didn't find Girls Acting Catty quite as charming, though I've totally been on Annabelle's shoes when your friends are telling you to dislike someone though you're not sure you do, sometimes they are right and somethings they aren't but it's very annoying anyway. 

And I think the book captures that very well. How even good friends can act questionably specially when you're 12 and being a girl feels so complicated, but other than that I didn't feel there was much to this book.

Bottom Line: Girls Acting Catty is a nice MG read, though I don't think it's my favorite.

1/3

Boys are Dogs by Leslie Margolis

As if sixth grade wasn't hard enough, Annabelle has to deal not only with a new co-ed school when she had always gone to an all girls school, but she also has to deal with moving away from her friends and living with her mom's new boyfriend.

The only good thing about the move so far is her new puppy - who smells slightly of bribe but it's too cute not to pet. However, Pepper-the-dog-formerly-known-as-Stripe, is unruly and wild as only a puppy can be, chewing just about anything. At least, Pepper is cute, the same cannot be say about boys.

The boys of Birchwood Middle are wild, rowdy, rude and right down mean. There is the chair kicker, the name caller, and most of all Jackson, who happens to be to older brother of Annabelle's new friend and neighbor Rachel.

When one day, by accident, Anabelle applies her puppy-training knowledge to dealing with a boy, and it works, she realizes that if boys act like dogs they can be trained as such.

Boys are Dogs is a short, sweet read, and Annabelle is an adorable young heroine! I LOVED her from the start, if I had gone to Birchwood Middle School I would have befriended her. Many times I felt like hugging her and cheering her on, even when she was a bit wimpy because, hell, I have been there in the land of the wimps as well - I lived there when I was Annabelle's age.

This story was wonderful and traumatic all at once, it really took me back, Margolis did an awesome job at capturing that awkward stage in life when boys become the icky enemy you aren't sure how to deal with.

This book is geared toward Tweens but I think it can be enjoyed by all. Extra points for having a dog!

Favorite quote: "I didn't know how to translate point ears into something I could use to my advantage, but I didn't want to skip any steps. So, just to be safe, I visualized that my ears were pointy."
1/2