Cassie's (12) life is turned upside down when her father moves out, leaving the family struggling to keep everything as normal as possible. Cassie's mother sells their house and moves her three children into a condo, leaving behind a decidedly ordinary middle-class life. After the nanny for five-year-old Jackson quits, older sister Miranda offers to take on the babysitting duties. But, like everything else she promises to do around the house, this too ends up falling on Cassie's shoulders. Between attempting to meet the page-count requirement in her English class journal and negotiating the typical social problems of any junior-high student, Cassie takes it upon herself to hold the family together. Unfortunately, as the family starts to unravel, so does the story. Stereotypes, like the stern, but caring teacher and the overweight, but smart classmate populate Cassie's world. Additional problems include the erratic behavior of Cassie's mother and the unsatisfying resolution of the major conflict of the missing father. Overly familiar and uneven. (Fiction. 10-14) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Gr 4-7-Lady Catrain must defend Queen Alynna from the evil Lord Valdyk. This does not sound "insanely real," does it? In fact, it is the journal writing of feisty 12-year-old Cassie, who finds solace in writing fantasy that parallels her personal experiences. Her single mom works long hours to support the family; Miranda, 15, is often irresponsible and sometimes angry. Cassie takes a lot of responsibility at home, particularly regarding six-year-old Jackson, who is in need of attention. The bane of Cassie's life is her sarcastic English teacher. She mistakenly comes to believe that her teacher only counts the number of pages in their journals, ignoring the contents, and begins writing a series of very funny and definitely hostile journal entries musing on such deep topics as rubber bands and converting fractions into percents. After her "best friends" drop her due to the lessening of her family's social status, Cassie reluctantly befriends overweight outcast Bess, who shares her love of fantasy fiction. The characters and their interactions are effectively delineated. Cassie realistically struggles with insecurity, rudeness, and impossible expectations from those around her. Everyone in the family has an epiphany of some sort that leads to a satisfyingly believable ending. Cassie is a spunky preteen, and girls will easily relate to her awkward chats with the boy she likes, sibling spats, and occasional moments of clarity.-B. Allison Gray, John Jermain Library, Sag Harbor, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Dee makes an impressive debut with this achingly real novel narrated by a 12-year-old who is valiantly trying to cope with upsetting changes in her life. After Cassie's father moved away for a mysterious reason (later disclosed), the family sold their house and now lives in a "ratty old condo development." Since their mother works long hours, Cassie's older sister, Miranda, has volunteered to do the food shopping and care for their younger brother after school. Yet the self-centered teen usually does neither so it's up to Cassie to keep things together-all the while hiding Miranda's irresponsibility and her own harried state from their frazzled mother. Meanwhile, Cassie becomes estranged from her former best friends, with whom she was on swim team before financial concerns forced her to quit; her grades begin to plummet; and, since her English teacher seems to be concerned only with the length rather than content of his students' journal entries, she abandons the fantasy saga that she had found great comfort in writing. Impressively, Dee keeps Cassie's dire straits from descending to melodrama, thanks to the heroine's sharp sense of humor, increasing self-confidence, and a spunkiness that readers will find refreshing. Some lighthearted moments between the sisters keep Miranda from playing the total villain. Though most readers are not grappling with the spectrum of losses and challenges that Cassie faces, they will likely be inspired by her resilience. Ages 10-14. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Gr. 4-7. Since Dad left, Cassie's family has had to give up its comfortable lifestyle and move to a ratty neighborhood. Mom has to work long hours, and Cassie, 12, is furious that she has to cover for her selfish, irresponsible older sister, Miranda, and take care of their needy little brother. Cassie is also mad at her grammar-obsessed English teacher, who disapproves of Cassie's writing in her fantasy journal. In fact, readers can easily skip the journal. It's the drama and seething anger in Cassie's first-person narrative that's so compelling, especially the descriptions of the sisters' quarrels--which are ultimately tempered by love. The dialogue is fast, funny, and tender, and the characters are drawn with real complexity. There's even a bit of mystery: Why did Dad leave? What did he do wrong? Nothing is fully resolved, so readers will look forward to the next installment in what appears to be a series. Suggest Claudia Mills' Makeovers by Marcia (2005) to readers while they wait. --Hazel Rochman Copyright 2006 Booklist