Portia's Exclusive and Confidential Rules on True Friendship [Paperback]

Anna Hays (Author)

Book Description

Psychoanalytic girl detective Portia Avatar is back on the case! New girl Misty Longfellow, amateur animal rescuer, requests Portia’s help getting to the bottom of why a recently rescued bunny seems so blue. While working with Misty to solve the case of the depressed bunny, Portia unexpectedly gains a new friend and faces drama with her old ones. Portia’s convinced that the biggest mystery is friendship itself and sets out to find some answers, while also still searching for more clues about her missing father, Patch. Anna Hays offers up another sweet, charming story with spirit and heart.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The budding "psychoanalytic detective" heroine of Hays's Portia's Ultra Mysterious Double Life returns with plenty of sassy observations. Twelve-year-old Portia Avatar lives with her health food-loving mom in sunny Palmville, Calif. When not jotting down important notes or new facts about life, she remains obsessed with finding her long-lost father, Patch. Portia gets sidetracked, though, when an exuberant, friend-hungry girl, Misty, moves into the neighborhood and enlists Portia's detective skills to figure out why her pet rabbit is acting strangely. The mystery of the bizarrely behaving bunny falls flat, but Hays buoys this otherwise bland tale with Portia's reflections: "NOTE: If anyone reads this, please gently remind Miss Killjoy and her other teacher 'friends' that life is more than juggling compound numbers. And that, in my not-so-humble opinion, acute angles are not even remotely cute. Big thanks!" If their conversations can sometimes feel affected and forced, Hays' characters are quirky and memorable. Ages 9-13.
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About the Author

Anna Hays is a writer and producer for a variety of formats and media including books, toys, theme parks, film, and television. Anna lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and their twin sons.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Aladdin; Original edition (May 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416978062
• ISBN-13: 978-1416978060
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,511,159 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anna Hays is a writer and producer for a variety of narrative and interactive media formats including books, toys, theme parks, retail environments, film, and television. Portia's Exclusive and Confidential Rules on True Friendship is the second book in her Portia Avatar series. The first book is entitled Portia's Ultra Mysterious Double Life. Anna lives with her family in Los Angeles and is currently working on a new book about a girl magician.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, June 6, 2009

By 

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

This review is from: Portia's Exclusive and Confidential Rules on True Friendship (Paperback)

Once again Portia is on the case. There's a new girl at the middle school. Her name is Misty, and she's determined to make Portia her new best friend, in addition to getting Portia's help with a serious problem.

Portia is excited to have a new detective case and dives right in helping her new friend. The case involves a rabbit named Maxwell. He's one of the stray animals Misty has an uncanny knack for finding and bringing home. Although her mother doesn't approve, she can't seem to avoid running into animals with problems. Along with Maxwell the depressed bunny, she is dealing with a three-legged grasshopper that escapes in Portia's mother's restaurant, The Tent.

Needless to say, Misty is keeping Portia busy.

In other plot action, Portia is still searching for her absent father, Patch. She is hoping for new developments in that case and gets one from an unlikely source, Vera, owner of Trash and Treasures.

There is also a possible romantic interest in Portia's life. Webster the math genius seems to be trying to get Portia's attention with what he says is an important question.

Indigo's restaurant is once again a backdrop for much of the action. This time the menu item of interest is the pomegranate, and Portia finds herself sampling all sorts of crazy concoctions her mother creates.

PORTIA'S EXCLUSIVE AND CONFIDENTIAL RULES ON TRUE FRIENDSHIP is a fun read with whimsical characters, a bit of mystery, and insightful comments regarding the meaning of friendship.

Portia offers a needed breath of fresh air in tween lit. She doesn't worry about make-up, hair styles, and fashion magazines. Instead, she focuses on family and friends and helping make the world a better place.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"