Module 7: Allie Finkle's rules for girls . bk. 1 : Moving day

Summary
Allie Finkle is a fourth grader who likes animals, science, baseball, and rules. She lives in a suburb, collects rocks, and has an overly sensitive best friend. When her parents tell Allie the family is moving across town to a hundred-year-old, haunted-looking Victorian in serious need of repair, Allie tries her best to derail the move (and save her family from the new house's attic-dwelling zombie hand) while dealing with the social realities of school and friendship.


Citation
Cabot, M. (2008). Allie Finkle's rules for girls: Moving day. New York, NY: Scholastic.


Impression
I'm not generally a fan of realistic fiction, but I have liked Meg Cabot's books in the past, so I figured this was a relatively safe bet. Allie Finkle is a pleasantly well-developed character, flawed and sometimes unlikable, but with good motivations--a very believable ten year old. She has believable motivations for everything she does, and the rules conceit is clever. I think the book would have been improved by a few real ghosts, but that is just my general dislike of realistic fiction. I liked that the book wasn't preachy and it had Allie deal with her problems in a way that made sense for her.

Review


Gr 3-5-At first, nine-year-old Allie Finkle seems rather unlikable. She's hard on her best friend (who is very quick to tears) and acts bratty when her parents tell her the family will be moving. And even though she's promised a kitten, and prefers her new school and the more engaging friend she'll have next door once they move, she's determined to sabotage the event. However, the girl's worries are nuanced and age-appropriate. By the book's end Allie does show a more caring side, even though her methods are not always appreciated by the adults around her. Chapters all begin with one of Allie's rules ("Don't Stick a Spatula Down Your Best Friend's Throat," or "When You Finally Figure Out What the Right Thing to Do Is, You Have to Do It, Even If You Don't Want To") that, while amusing, may quickly become tiresome for some readers. With good intentions and reckless results, Allie will appeal to children who enjoyed reading about Ramona, Amber Brown, Junie B., and the other feisty girls found in beginning chapter books. This novel proves that the master of young adult popular fare is able to adapt her breezy style for a younger audience

Zubak, T. (2008, June 1). [Review of the book Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Moving Day, by M. Cabot]. School Library Journal. Retrieved from www.schoollibraryjournal.com. 

Like every other kid lately, nine-year-old Allie Finkle is developing her list of rules for friendships, school situations, family and overall life. Dos and don'ts for any newly minted tween can get pretty complicated when an already unsettling relationship with a so-called best friend is augmented by one's parents' decision to sell their comfortable suburban dwelling and move to an un-renovated Victorian-style, 100-year-old gloomy and possibly haunted house in the city. And, what about the new (really old and crowded) school and a fourth grade filled with unfriendly faces? Allie is stressed but decides to take charge by hatching a scheme to prevent the sale of her suburban house and thus, the move. Cabot's endearing, funny and clever protagonist will have readers simultaneously chuckling and commiserating as succeeding chapters introduce individual "rules" for Allie to contemplate and accept. Lessons on friendship and fickleness, sneaky behavior, lying, animal cruelty and theft (although paying for a "rescued" pet turtle that was never for sale may raise some eyebrows) merge to create a humorous and heartwarming story. Allie's first-person voice is completely believable with just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek wit. Despite the now-overdone rules concept, readers will eagerly await Allie's next installment in her new home, school and neighborhood. (Fiction. 8-11)

(2008, January 1). [Review of the book Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Moving Day, by M. Cabot]. Kirkus. Retrieved from http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/meg-cabot/moving-day-2/#review

Uses
This book could be featured on a library's kid-focused website area, and kids could be asked to submit their own rules to be posted on the site.