Reviews

Anastasia at Your Service by Diane deGroat, Lois Lowry

erinmp's review against another edition

3.0

Anastasia at Your Service picks up right where the last one left off. The summer is endlessly boring now that her only friend has gone off to camp. And Anastasia's poverty-stricken. She decides that she will become a Lady's Companion to a rich old lady. She gets a job immediately, but there's a mix-up--she's working as a *maid*!!! And her new employer has a granddaughter Anastasia's age; so now a possilbe friend will only know her as a lowly maid. Anastasia's problems are never-ending, it seems...

I dind't enjoy this one quite as much as the previous Anastasia books. I didn't find it as funny, although it did have it's funny moments, definitely. Can't wait to dive into the next one!

sasha_in_a_box's review against another edition

5.0

This girl is my spirit animal, as the kids say. And it's fun to come back to this as a grown-up, since I'm now recognizing the references to Fellini and understand what a freaking debacle is. Awesome fun and a trip down memory lane.

novelesque_life's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 STARS

"Twelve-year-old Anastasia has a series of disastrous experiences when, expecting to get a job as a lady's companion, she is hired instead to be a maid." (From Amazon)

I enjoyed this series as a kid along with Judy Blume and Paula Danziger.

jbuvalentine's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No

thenovelbook's review

3.0

This book introduced me to the word "hors d'oeuvre" when I was a kid. I like that it unapologetically uses words like that and just assumes (correctly) that young readers will soak it all up even if they have to figure out what it means later.

epistolary_lesbian_sister's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

bougainvillea's review against another edition

3.0

Not as funny as the first two.

karenmsecrest's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

athenameilahn's review against another edition

1.0

I loved these as a kid, but they didn’t age well. Mom leaves so the 13yr old is in charge? Why is her dad such a deadbeat? Youngest gets chicken pox & he expects his daughter to stay home & take care of him, rather than postpone a lecture? Decided to make his wife a schedule of all of the daily tasks he knows NOTHING about.

Still funny in places but dripping with sexism. Ugh.

erine's review against another edition

4.0

Some books you go back to and are disappointed... but these ones I think are even better reading them decades later. Anastasia is bored and needs money so she advertises herself as a “ladies’ companion,” but her new employer baits and switches her into being a maid. Anastasia is both ridiculous and relatable during the hijinks that ensue. Anastasia has difficulties with a first impression, her younger brother ends up in the hospital after a severe injury, she makes a new friend and learns more about her dad’s poverty-stricken childhood (during the depression). There are some moments when the story seems historical (not “dated,” somehow it escapes that feeling), but overall this is still incredibly relevant.

Note: After his hospital stay, Sam tapes a feather to his head in order to play “Indian.”