Allie Finkle's Rules For Girls: Moving Day (Hardcover)

by Meg Cabot (Author)
Key Phrases: zombie hand, grand jetés, velvet wallpaper, Mary Kay, Uncle Jay, Lady Serena Archibald (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. SignatureReviewed by Rachel VailIn Cabot's (the Princess Diaries) first foray into novels for kids who are still in single digits, her trademark frank humor makes for compulsive reading—as always. The first installment of a new series presents a nine-year-old girl attempting to impose rules for living on her increasingly complex world. Allie is funny, believable and plucky (of course; all girls are plucky, at least in books), but most of all, and most interestingly, Allie is ambivalent.As the book starts, Allie learns that her family is moving across town. It is a mark of Cabot's insight to understand that, to a nine-year-old, a car ride's separation from the world she has known makes that distance as vast as the universe. Allie will be enrolled in a different elementary school, and will therefore be that most hideous thing: the new kid. To make matters worse, the Finkle family will be moving to a dark, old, creaky Victorian, which, Allie becomes convinced, has a zombie hand in the attic. Moving will mean leaving behind not only her geode collection but also her best friend. And here is where the story deepens. Allie's best friend is difficult. She cries easily and always insists on getting her own way. To keep the peace, Allie makes rules for herself, often after the fact, to teach herself such important friendship truisms as Don't Shove a Spatula Down Your Best Friend's Throat.Mary Kate is the kind of best friend anybody would want to shove a spatula down the throat of, is the thing.As Allie marshals her energies to fight the move in increasingly desperate ways, sophisticated readers may well conclude ahead of Allie that the friends she is meeting at the new school are more fun and better for her than spoiled Mary Kate and the cat-torturer, Brittany Hauser. Coming to this realization on their own, however, is part of the empowering fun. Told from the distinctive perspective of a good-hearted, impulsive, morally centered kid, this is a story that captures the conflicted feelings with which so many seemingly strong nine-year-olds struggle. Ambivalence is uncomfortable. It is also a sign of growing up. Early elementary school is all about primary colors, where rules, imposed by adults, are clear guidelines to good behavior and getting along. The more complex hues of the second half of elementary school, when complicated friendship dynamics begin to outpace the adult-imposed rules of home and school, leave many kids floundering and confused. In the character Allie Finkle, Cabot captures this moment of transition and makes it feel not just real, but also fun, and funny. Rachel Vail's forthcoming novel, Lucky (HarperTeen, May), is the start of a trilogy about three sisters.
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From Booklist
Nine-year-old Allie faces her world with humor and common sense by making a list of rules to live by. Each rule (often presented as a chapter heading) has a story behind it. Rule # 1: Don’t Stick a Spatula Down Your Best Friend’s Throat evolves from the terrible fight between Allie and wimpy, weepy Mary Kay. Other rules come about after Allie finds out that the family is moving across town to a creepy Victorian house (she tries her best to sabotage the plans). A prize cat, a stolen turtle, two younger brothers, and a willing coconspirator  in the form of an uncle all play a part in the antics as adventures unfold. Lively Allie is an appealing heroine who has an uncanny knack for getting into (and out of) scrapes with friends and family. The talented Cabot, popular with both teen and adult readers, will attract a new, younger audience with this novel, which will surely leave readers looking forward to future installments. One note: the fold-out-to-poster-size dust jacket may pose a problem for libraries. Look for a review of the audiobook version on p. 124. Grades 3-5. --Bina Williams

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Press (March 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0545039479
• ISBN-13: 978-0545039475
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #73,348 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, February 5, 2008

By	TeensReadToo.com "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

Allie Finkle, a precocious, adventurous, and outspoken nine-year-old, is on a mission. A mission to keep her parents from making the worst decision of their lives and moving her and her brothers out of their perfectly fine suburban home and into a creaky, dark, and gloomy Victorian house.

Even such incentives as a new best friend, a new school, and a kitten all her own aren't enough to convince Allie that moving may actually be fun. Because Allie has a rule for everything...and one of them is: You can't let your family move into a haunted house!

For any Meg Cabot fan in training, MOVING DAY, the first installment in the ALLIE FINKLE'S RULES FOR GIRLS series, is a must read. Working the charm that won over the teenage set, Cabot expertly brings Allie to life in this laugh-out-loud story.

A lively narrator, Allie will keep you entertained with her many exploits and her stark honesty. This is a book that Cabot readers, new and old, young and not-so-young, will all enjoy. Meg Cabot is on the fast track to the top of kids lit, with the promise of many more stories to come.

Reviewed by: The Compulsive Reader

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY, February 11, 2008

By	macysmama (buckeye state) - See all my reviews

I have been trying to find a book that my 9 year old daughter would love.
Finally I found it!! She loves the rules!! She can relate to Allie alot trying to get along with her friends is hard sometimes. I love the dust cover she can write her own rules. Which should be interesting to see what she comes up with.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Allie Finkle is the funniest fourth grader in children's lit!, February 27, 2008

By	Erika Sorocco (Southern California, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Nine-year-old Allie Finkle is seriously contemplating dumping her current best friend, Mary Kay, after an incident involving sticking a spatula down the crybaby Mary Kay's throat - on accident - occurs. Instead, she decides to create a book full of rules that she'd like to find a way to abide by in her life. But just a few rules in, Allie finds out that she's moving away, and realizes that everything is going to change - and not for the better.

Allie Finkle's life is absolutely perfect. Sure, she doesn't have her own pet, and must share the family dog with four other people; but sharing is better than nothing. Besides, she has the best fourth grade teacher in the entire world - Ms. Myers - and even though she's forced to put up with Scott Stamphley, crybaby Mary Kay, and bat thrower Brittany Hauser on a daily basis, the mere presence of Ms. Myers sets her mind at ease. That is, until the day she learns that she's moving to a spooky old Victorian, forcing her to leave her current classroom - and bedroom - and take up residence in the haunted fixer upper. At this point, Allie is quite positive that her parents have lost their minds. Just because her family suddenly has more money - thanks to her mom's new job and her father's new promotion - doesn't mean that you should be forced to pick up your stuff and relocate - even if it's just a few blocks away. Besides, by doing so she's allowing her family to break one of her cardinal rules - "you can't let your family move into a haunted house." The new house does have it's positives, living right around the corner from Dairy Queen being one of them; having a cool girl named Erica living right next door another; and getting a kitten of your very own just the perfect way to finish off the list. But the fact that she's forced to get rid of her geode collection is enough to burst anyone's bubble. Allie is convinced that she'll find a way to change her parent's minds before it's too late. But if she's not careful, she may just cause Ms. Myers' entire fourth grade class, and the annoying real estate agent, to hate her with a blood-boiling passion in the process.

Over the years, I have begun to look to Meg Cabot as a close, personal friend in the literature world. Her characters are always so relatable, and manage to get a reader through the toughest times in life. Now, after spending so much time in the young adult and adult genres, however, Cabot has set her sights on conquering the middle reader division, and proves that she's fully capable of doing so. Allie Finkle is your typical girl-next-door, with a little spunk mixed in. Her fiery passion for animal rights and liberation is humorous; while her honesty is downright respectable. The fact that she doesn't let anyone keep her, or her ideas, caged is empowering - as is her strong voice. From page one Allie's personality draws you in, and refuses to release you until the last page is turned. Much like Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume before her, Cabot has taken over the middle reader genre with a vengeance, leaving you craving more. Allie Finkle is the funniest fourth grader in children's lit!

Erika Sorocco
Freelance Reviewer