Smoke Screen (American Girl (Paperback Unnumbered)) [Paperback]

Amy Goldman Koss (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2000 | Age Level: 10 and up | Series: American Girl (Paperback Unnumbered)

As Mitzi's mother tries unsuccessfully to quit smoking, Mitzi pretends her mother has a terrible disease, "Stipitis," in order to win sympathy and affection from a boy she has a crush on.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Witty and deftly paced, Koss's (The Girls) sprightly novel revitalizes a familiar plot. Sixth-grader Mitzi, the narrator, has been desperately trying to get her classmate Mike to notice her. When she gets an eyelash in her eye and starts to tear up, she is positively thrilled that he asks if she's okay. The eyelash seems too banal to mention, so almost before she knows it, Mitzi is telling Mike that her mom is sick (well, her mother is in a terrible mood from trying to quit smoking). "What should I have said?" she asks the reader. "I was crying over war? World hunger?" The lie takes on a life of its own, and soon Mitzi's whole class is making sympathy cards to help her face her mother's recovery from a critical operation ("Our hearts are with you," writes the teacher on the envelope). The author cleverly balances the lighthearted with the thoughtful, and her characterizations are both on target and very funny. Mitzi's quick repartee with her friends and parents shows particular understanding of middle-graders and their concerns, and the adults, too, are lifelike. Kids will get a strong message about the addictiveness of cigarettes, as well as about the pitfalls of straying too far from the truth, but the lessons never get in the way of the laughter. Ages 10-up. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-The New Year is starting out great for Mitzi Burk. Her mom has decided to quit smoking, she has the best friend a girl could want, and she's seated next to Mike Humphrey, her first crush. Then, in the space of one short month, things change dramatically. Mitzi's mother is totally wrapped up in her unsuccessful attempts to stop smoking (the cleanliness quit, the vigorous-exercise quit, and the group quit) and her best friend has found a new, cooler friend, leaving Mitzi behind. Worst of all, however, is the growing lie she has told Mike in order to make an impression on him-that her mother has the horrible disease "Stripitis." Koss does an excellent job of expressing how adolescent minds work. The characters and plot are well developed and will be familiar to many readers. Short chapters and sparkling dialogue will appeal to even the most reluctant readers. Fans of Koss's The Ashwater Experiment (Dial, 1999) will love this comical page-turner.
Shilo Halfen, Chicago Public Library
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: American Girl; 1st edition (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584852011
• ISBN-13: 978-1584852018
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,234,551 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

www.AmyGoldmanKoss.net

Born in Michigan. Now living in California with husband, kids, pets, cars, furniture, vegetable garden...
Over-eating, over-sleeping, over-reading, and typing like mad.

I write to, for, and about people between the ages of 11 and 15 because that is the trickiest, stickiest, and most bizarre age I've lived through --so far.
What I want my readers to remember about my books is that they LOVED them!

And YES I do school and library visits!
Cheers! xoxox Amy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Smoke Screen, April 23, 2002

By 

Haylee Alvarez (Visa, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smoke Screen (American Girl (Paperback Unnumbered)) (Paperback)

Mitzi's mother is trying desperately quit smoking, and her withdrawal symptons is driving the whole family crazy. But Mitzi has more to worry about than her Mom's mood swings. She's got to find a way to get Mike Humphrey, her mad crush, to beam his ultra-smile in her direction. And her best friend, Birdy, is too busy getting chummy with a popular girl named Roxy to help. So when Mitzi tells miake a huge lie about her mother's condtition just to get his attention, she has no one to blame but herself for the trouble that follows.
I really enjoyed this story, even though I have never had any similar problems. I can still relate to Mitzi though, by the way she tries to get boy's attention, yet I have never gotten in as much trouble as she does in this story !

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LYING DOESN'T GET YOU ANYWHERE, March 8, 2003

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Smoke Screen (American Girl (Paperback Unnumbered)) (Paperback)

I found this book to be very helpful for kids because I learned that smoking is very bad for your health. Plus I enjoyed the characters especially Mitzi Burk and Mike Humphrey. Her problems are very big and the lesson is that lying doesn't ger you anywhere. So that's why I gave it five stars.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good one!, July 10, 2005

By 

Toro (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smoke Screen (American Girl (Paperback Unnumbered)) (Paperback)

The book I read is called Smokescreen and it is by Amy Coss. The story is about a normal girl Mitzi and she has troubles with her life. The first trouble she has in her life is that her mom smokes a lot. Her mom keeps on trying to quit but can't handle herself and keeps smoking. Her second problem is that her best friend has a new girl to hang out with named Roxy and Mitzi feels forlorn. She is also concerned for her best friend because Roxy and Birdy (the best friend) were caught smoking a cigarette. The third problem is that a boy named Mike Humphrey does not notice her. The last problem is a result of Mitzi trying to get Mike to like her. Mitzi tells Mike that her mother is DEATHLY ill and is in the hospital. Mitzi thinks that by telling Mike this, he will feel pity on her and start liking her. But her plan backfires because Mitzi's mother is first off, not ill at all. Second off, Mitzi keeps worrying about her mother running into Mike's mother. And lastly Mitzi feels pretty bad about telling such a bad lie like that just to get some guy to notice her. All of these problems are resolved though. The smoking problem with the mother is resolved when the mother realizes the lie Mitzi told was based on her smoking. The problem with Birdy hanging out with Roxy more was resolved because Birdy realized that she honestly didn't like Roxy and Roxy just got Birdy into trouble. The problem with Mike Humphrey was resolved when Mitzi found out that Mike was just another comic-book dork. And finally the problem with the lie was resolved when the parents of Mitzi said that she did not have to tell the truth to the school because it was actually the parents fault for her lies.