Author Rachel Cohn does some things well. Her dialogue is natural and real and, despite a too-pat ending, she understands teens and their feelings. Because of this Annabel never seems like a brat, even though some of her behavior is bratty. Especially well-done is the parental reaction to the girls running away. In addition to having a police officer show them pictures of what can happen to runaways, they are given serious punishments that very much fit the crime and yet are not unduly harsh or unkind.

But her acceptance, and even glorification, of teenage material values (the solution to Lucy's lack of friends is for her to wear cooler clothes, the family bonds over shopping, Annabel first reaches out to her stepmother by commenting on her stylish boots, etc.) will trouble some parents even as it convinces young readers that Rachel Cohn is one of them. Alert readers will be annoyed by the cover. Though the diagram of Annabel's complicated family is helpful, the use of stock photos that do not fit the descriptions of the characters, most notably in age, is distracting. And the length and reading level (8 up) do not match the content, which will be of interest only to middle-schoolers.

From the Book:
While the plane taking me to meet the Steps floated over gray clouds and endless ocean for what seemed like forever, I stared at the pictures of Lucy and Angus and plotted the ways I was going to aggravate them so much that they would become such terrible children that Jack would return home to New York City with me, where he belonged.