Bookshelf: Danika's Totally Terrible Toss

It was fun to dip into middle grade after so much George Eliot and teenfic this week, with Danika's Totally Terrible Toss by Dannah Gresh. This is part of the Secret Keeper Girls series, where four different authors take four different stories about four middle school girls (the fourness!) who have different problems in school, and are united in a desire to be good friends and keep trust between each other.

The book was cute. Danika's life is ruled by the belief that your lunch table partners are the most important thing in the cafeteria, and her anger at the situation is directed towards a Flurp-throwing incident with the lunchlady. Through the book, Danika learns the importance of holding on to friends and of giving to others. It's nice to read this after the ridiculous Clique series tries to convince the world that all 12-year-olds date.

I would have enjoyed the book more if Danika had learned how to deal with anger, because that's a lesson that's never taught to young teen girls. We're not supposed to be angry, remember? Throwing Flurp across the caf won't solve much, but being honest and forthright does. The ending reminded me of Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (the movie), but overall the author did a good job of relating the self-consciousness that is the H2O of middle school. Thank God that's over, right?