Heather Vogel Frederick

Firstly, this book implies the girls' book club is reading [b:Little Women|1934|Little Women|Louisa May Alcott|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388269517s/1934.jpg|3244642], but actually they are reading Little Women and the sequel ([b:Good Wives|78960|Good Wives|Louisa May Alcott|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1282713827s/78960.jpg|6582437]). I went to all the trouble to read Little Women to avoid spoilers, and three-quarters of the way through the book stumbled into major spoilers for Good Wives! This is so frustrating, as there is no warning or FYI of any kind in the beginning of the book or the ad-copy. I dropped an entire star for this reason alone.

The story itself was okay, nothing special. I was able to overlook the ridiculously unrealistic happenings because this is, after all, a children's book. I wasn't impressed with the parents much of the time, however. It apparently is acceptable for grown adults to make fun of other adults (and children!) as long as those people are "mean." Not the kind of role models I'd like for my children.… (mais)

Romance is tossed into this novel, as the girls are older. I liked that their situations are all different but authentic. I especially enjoy Cassiday in these novels - she is great! I had a lot of empathy for Megan in this novel - and it reminded me that even if we think someone is super confident, they may be hiding shyness or their own insecurities. We have to look beyond appearances. One other thing I have enjoyed is seeing how the mothers grow and change. Obviously their storylines are secondary, but we get glimpses and I think that is a positive message to girls.… (mais)