#1 Can You Say Catastrophe? (The Mostly Miserable Life of April Sinclair)
For those on the other side of age 13, April Sinclair’s angst should slam home memories of that tumultuous year; for those approaching or enduring that pivotal year, it sheds plenty of bright light on what might lie ahead. April’s catastrophic year begins on her birthday, April 20—the day she calls “the most embarrassing day of my life.” It involves her mischievous younger sisters, May and June, who make her life unbearable. Plus, her parents don’t understand her: they even cancel April’s summer camp. Instead, they purchase a dilapidated RV and head out on a family vacation. April at least knows her world is ending; the two-week trip is meanwhile transforming for the entire family. With its painful, foible-laden plot and diary format, this first installment in the Mostly Miserable Life of April Sinclair series is sure to capture readers graduating from the Baby-Sitters Club and its ilk. Grades 5-8. --J. B. Petty