For the Girly Tweens Out There.

The Teashop Girls, by Laura Schaefer. I remember being a bit confused when I started My Life in Pink and Green, because I thought that was about a girl who tries to save her grandmother's tea shop. I think I'd picked these two up on the same day, but I remembered reading the back of Teashop Girls only, thus my confusion. That book is about a middle school girl who tries to save her grandmother's pharmacy, with the help of her friends and family. This story, which is also very pink, is about a middle school girl who tries to save her grandmother's tea shop, with the help of her friends and family. They are for roughly the same audience, and the plot is remarkably similar in most broad ways: the family's finances get worse, there is friend and boy drama, and stuff gets all better at the end. If I had them here in front of me, I'd check the publication dates to see who stole the idea from whom. They are more similar than I like my unrelated-novels-by-different-authors to be, but for all I know, readers who loved the one will be glad to have the other, not dismayed by their gross similarities. This book is entirely unremarkable in terms of grammar, artistic and writing style, interesting plot twists, or fun character developments. That means it doesn't suck, but it doesn't stand out at all in a good way either. My Fair Godmother, by Janette Rallsion. I enjoyed this very much, mostly because it's true that no one ever thinks of what a pompous git Prince Charming really was. I love a chance to reexamine an old fairy tale and think about some part of it in a new way. Although I really enjoyed the story, I felt like the author's messages were a bit heavy: not pedantic or preachy, but it's certainly noticeable what the author thought the young reader should take away. Maybe other readers, however, who are not on the look out for that sort of thing, won't feel the same way. It certainly isn't bad enough to keep me from recommending the book.