If you like books about animals, you'll love all the details about the zoo and the wildlife
rehabilitation centre!
Description from
the publisher:
What
would middle school be like if you lived in a zoo? Just ask Ana Wright, star of
the hilarious, award-nominated My Life is
A Zoo series that combines first crushes, friendship fails...and pack
dynamics.
Surprise!
Ana’s long distance BFF is finally coming back to visit. But with her purple
hair and new attitude, Liv is barely the girl Ana remembers. This new Liv
probably thinks a birthday party at the zoo is lame. Maybe if Ana has a
super-secret sleepover instead, she’d never have to introduce Liv to Ashley,
former enemy and now Ana’s best-ish friend. What could go wrong?
Creature
File for Liv:
Species
Name: Best Frendicus
Kingdom:
New Zealand
Phylum:
girl who used to be Ana Wright’s best friend, girl who used to like getting
milkshakes
at Shaken, Not Stirred
Feeds
on: video chats with Leilani, attention from boys
Life
span: undetermined, but if things keep going the way they are, the lifespan of
Ana and Liv, BFFs isn’t going to be the “forever” they thought…
How to Outfox
Your Friends When You Don’t Have a Clue was written by Jess Keating and
published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky in 2015.
Why you want to
read this book…
It’s
easy to relate to the main character, Ana, and her friendship problems and I
really wanted to find out how she would solve them! People do change and it can
be hard, sometimes, to let go of the way you thought they were before. The
story moves along at a good pace, and is full of cool details about animals and
what it’s like in the zoo as well as a wildlife rehabilitation centre. I also
enjoyed the humor in the story and Ana’s animal-related perspective on the
world!
“Taking a nervous breath, I put on my absolute
coolest face, trying to look like those girls do in the yogurt commercials
where they look all carefree and chill with their little spoons and hips
shaking everywhere.”
If you’re a
writer…
This
is a great novel to check out if you need an example of an excellent voice.
Everything is from the perspective of the main character, including her views
on animals, friendships, homework and family issues, like her annoying twin
brother. The dialogue is realistic and
so are the problems Ana faces.
“Of
course, most almost-thirteen-year-olds don’t also have to instruct their
friends on how to avoid getting drooled on by a giraffe, but hey, welcome to my
life.”
If you’re a
teacher…
This
would be a fun book to have in a classroom collection or school library. There
are some important issues about friendships that arise in this story. I
especially like how, in this series, the main character Ana has become friends
with a girl she thought was her enemy. It’s also nice to see Ana’s mature
attitude about the idea of “best friends” that emerges in this novel. I really
liked the school assignment she had to do about finding five important
influences in her life – it would be an interesting assignment to do with
students.
“It
occurred to me that not so long ago, an invitation like this from Ashley would
probably have left me running for the hills. It’s funny how much our lives can
changed without us noticing it.”
Opening Line:
“Know
what’s crazy? In exactly nine days, four hours, and nineteen minutes, I am
going to change.”
Other Info:
Jess
Keating is the author of several other middle grade books, including How to
Outrun a Crocodile When Your Shoes are Untied (see my review here) and How to Outswim a Shark
Without a Snorkel.
You might want to check out Jess
Keating’s kids magazine, The Curious Creative.
I'm familiar with Jess K and can't wait to read this book. Thansk!
ReplyDeleteThis series is so much fun!
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