My Worst/Best Sleepover Party (review)

With plans for build-your-own-pizza and the telling of scary stories, it seems like Rose's sleepover party will be the best time Rose has ever had. That's until she's caught in a typical middle-grades political vise when popular pair Hailey and Bailey demand that Rose uninvite her best friend, Stacey, to stave off a boycott of the party by the duo and their minions. Torn between becoming a pariah and rejecting her best friend, Rose must steer her way through a prickly social and ethical dilemma. Rose's narration is credible in its anxious ingenuousness, and the story has a deft touch with elements of individual and classroom character (Hailey is a creative inventor of games and pastimes, a skill that makes her a particularly sought-after companion). It's also refreshingly honest in its acknowledgments that adult involvement can make such a situation worse and that totally satisfying solutions are pretty unlikely. Purposiveness rudely interrupts the flow at several points, however, and results in a conclusion that involves Rose didactically reflecting on her growth and undercutting the story's dramatic impact; the black-and-white full-page illustrations are stilted and amateurish. Kids will nonetheless relate to Rose's dilemma, and they'll be relieved to learn that it's survivable with a little help from good friends.