Lisa Papademetriou delivers again with another fun book about Hayley and her 7th grade existence.
Diversity continues to be a theme. This time, we have a foster family and a charity fundraiser. However, as much as this series makes an effort to open readers' eyes to various differences of people within a community, I can't get past the inaccurate portrayal of anaphylaxis. In this book, Hayley's allergic reaction in the last book was recapped, and still there was no mention of an ER visit, which is standard procedure in case of anaphylaxis. A "shot" is mentioned, but there's no indication that Hayley was prescribed an EpiPen, which is also standard procedure if someone is diagnosed with a life-threatening allergy. It just seemed like the author was trying to spread some allergy awareness, but spreading incomplete or misleading information really doesn't help. I think I would have given this book 5 stars if the depiction of anaphylaxis, and its treatment and aftermath, had been fleshed out more.
Anyway, other than that one shortcoming, I really enjoyed this book. Annie doesn't make an appearance, and I found myself feeling glad about that.
Hayley continues to "keep it real". Having given up on her crush, she finds herself confused by her own emotions in regards to Marco and Kyle. Her relationships with Artie and Meghan continue to develop, and she realizes that while she's been going through a lot of big deals herself, so have the people around her - like Artie and Chloe. As Hayley points out on page 118 of my edition, "What may be a big deal to one person isn't a big deal to another. Or maybe some people are good at handling one kind of big deal, and bad at handling others."
I was really pleased to follow the evolution of Hayley and Artie's friendship, and a revelation was made that really shed light on the whole situation.
There was one development that bordered on over-the-top. I think it was meant to be an unexpected twist, but since it was actually predictable, I didn't mind it.
There are definitely loose ends that I hope will be tied up in the next installment!
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