I liked the layout of this book very much. I loved the photos and thought that the short chapters could be used to tell a great story. However, the main character (Moxy herself) is a colossal brat! Right up there with Allie Finkle! What is it with authors these days? I can't recall a single series from my childhood that centered around a god-awful brat who never suffers any consequences. It used to be that the bratty kid was always the antagonist who (with the exception of DW) learned his or her lesson by the end of the story/series. Is this change a reflection of the times? As someone who hopes to one day bring children into this world, I hope not. :/ ( )

Narrated by Clea Lewis. Sequel to "MM Does Not Love Stuart Little." Once again, instead of buckling down to the task, Moxy finds the most roundabout (and comically destructive) way to accomplish a dreaded task, in this case writing her Christmas thank-you notes. ( )

Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

If you hate writing thank-you notes, then you will want to read about Moxy Maxwell. She is under the pressure of a deadline to write her Christmas thank yous, and it's driving her crazy.

Moxy and her twin brother, Mark, are excited about their upcoming trip to Hollywood. They are going to visit their father, who is considered to be a "big mover and shaker" in the Hollywood scene. They haven't seen him in three years, a fact that greatly distresses their mother. That's sort of what has Moxy confused. Her mother wants them to make this important visit, but at the same time, she is insisting that Moxy write all her Christmas thank yous in one day before she leaves.

Thank-you notes seem incredibly pointless to Moxy. Since Granny George lives with them, she sees her every day, but when Moxy tells Granny thank you verbally, her mother says she will still need to write a thank-you note. She says it is the polite thing to do. So Moxy starts the tedious process, but she soon begins to get ideas about ways to make the job easier.

Some of those time-saving ways involve her little sister, Pansy, an off-limits, brand-new copy machine her step-father got for Christmas, a broken La-Z-Boy chair, and a can of gold spray paint. Moxy's creative ideas wreck havoc on the entire household, and surprisingly don't accomplish much in the way of completed thank-you notes.

Readers will have great fun observing Moxy's crazy schemes and shortcuts. Just as most of us feel, her ideas seem like a good idea at the time, but good ideas don't always come with good results. Author Peggy Gifford has captured the frustration of the 9-12 age group. They will easily relate to Moxy's desires and emotions as she struggles to meet the demands of the adult world and satisfy her own wants as well. ( )

It's amazing, but true: this story's main problem is about getting 12 thank you notes written in time for Moxy's trip to Hollywood to see her father. At least that how the first half (or two-thirds?) play out. The final chapters, however, reveal a more poignant side to Moxy's character. This is a cute fun story, worth sticking with even though the first half (or two-thirds?) seems unbelievably shallow.
(#2 in series)

Ten-year-old Moxy is very excited to go to Hollywood with her twin brother to visit their father. She has promised her mother that she would write thank-you notes by the day after Christmas - 12 thank-you notes. While hatching a plan to minimize the effort to write her notes she creates a variety of problems within the house.