Reviews

The New Girl by Meg Cabot

ninvninv's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

auntiel's review against another edition

3.0

Cute book on cd to listen to. The voice and the music made it a lot of fun. The story wasn't high quality lit, but it was fun.

gracezenzen's review

5.0

People were making fun of Allie and she had to figure out how to get it to stop. Even though people are making fun of you, you aren't that kind of person, who they say you are.

runa's review

Like I said for the first Allie Finkle book, Meg Cabot is definitely channeling Beverly Cleary's Ramona, because there is no other explanation for the sheer brilliance of these books. They are beyond relatable to any child, and at the same time, hysterical to readers of all ages (I really don't expect an elementary reader to pick up on the subtle not-so-subtle jabs at in-laws, etc). I think the moment that resonated with me personally most was Allie's cat essay, because I distinctly remember writing my final 4th grade SOL practice essay about my own dreams of cat ownership, but there's really a memory for everyone. There are certain things that I felt could have been dealt with better, but overall, super book. On to the nitpickyness: There are moments when you feel without a doubt that this is a 4th grade narrator...and others when it's a little doubtful. I was skeptical particularly when Allie started talking about "contemporary split-levels", which, I'm sorry, but 12th grade me has no freaking clue what that is, while a few chapters later, the same girl uses the word "littlest". The other thing that bothered me was her attention to clothes--I don't know about you, but when I was that young, I did not notice what other people were wearing, while Allie goes around describing every little thing about random peoples' clothes. I liked the book a lot, although the ending did have me cringing, thinking about those cute little girls headed pretty much straight on their ways to becoming The Clique girls, and I really don't want that happening. I hope Meg Cabot addresses this issue in the next book, and saves out awesome individualistic sheroes!

Rating: 5/5

somechelsea's review

2.0

A sweet story, but not nearly as good as Cabot's young adult fiction. Allie is really just a young Mia - they have the same voice (which, actually, is Cabot's voice. it comes through in all of her characters, in varying degrees, and she writes the exact same way in her blog. it's a charming voice, certainly, and very funny, which means that I can overlook it more often than not, but all of her characters share it.), both have plenty of neuroses (or as close to neuroses as a forth grader can have), and they're both obsessed with their cats. Though I found Allie annoying, while I seldom feel that way about Mia...

I think younger girls will love the series, but it's not one that translates well to older readers. I don't think I'm going to bother with the others in the series.