Common Sense Media Review
By Terreece Clarke
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Poignant and funny family tale for tweens.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 9+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
Lorelei's pet cat Mud dies and because she plans on being very famous one day she decides to keep track of her life in a journal written to Mud. This is the best way to keep people from making up facts about her later, but what starts off as a chronicle of school and the things her cat is missing turns more serious as her parents' marriage begins to dissolve. Will she get a part in the school play? What's happening to her once sane and straight-laced father? Will anything ever make sense again?
Is It Any Good?
I, LORELEI is a great book. Author Yeardley Smith, best known as the voice of Lisa Simpson on the hit animated sitcom The Simpsons, knows how to capture the voice, mindset ,and humor of 11-year-old girls. Lorelei is funny, sensible, and remarkably in-tune to her feelings and those around her. She's able to clearly articulate and examine her feelings as well as see what motivates others to behave the way they do. For example, Lorelei comes to realize why a school outcast is so awkward -- people have ignored her to the point she feels as if she's invisible -- and decides to become her friend, especially after she feels Saylor wasn't given the part in the school play that she deserved
The one issue many readers will have with the book is that it ends. Poor Lorelei and her family are going through so much, and while most of it is pretty funny, it's also heartbreaking at times, and you hope for a happy ending for this quirky, yet loving family. Instead, Smith leaves audiences hanging, hoping for a sequel.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the importance of having an outlet for their feelings. Why was it important for Lorelei to keep her journal? Do you keep a journal? How does it help you sort through your problems?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Family Life
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : HarperCollins Children's Books
- Publication date : January 27, 2009
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 9 - 12
- Number of pages : 352
- Last updated : June 19, 2019
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