Mustard. A charity orange. Five apples. A half gone pint of charity cream cheese. An open can of Friskies. That’s all the food in the house when Cassie’s sister, Miranda forgets to do all of the shopping. It’s just the latest crisis in Cassie’s life since her father moved out and her mother went back to work, and Cassie feels totally responsible for keeping things together for her little brother.
In the wonderful book we meet the protagonist Cassie, who feels as if her sister Miranda forgetting to do the shopping is the latest crisis in her life. Ever since her father had “left the picture” and her mother has gone back to work it’s like there’s no more meaning to life. Especially living in a “ratty” old unit with no food or anything is not fun at all, having an older sister constantly nagging about her dream boy, and a little brother crying and whining all the time is no delight. Since her mother has gone back to work it’s like she’s the nanny of the house, with doing the groceries, covering her sister’s lies and teaching her brother how to read. It’s like she was just a regular seventh grader and now she’s almost acting like a mother. Home isn’t just a problem for Cassie because things aren’t any better at school. Cassie’s grades are plummeting, her best friends have turned nasty, she’s getting mixed signals from a cute boy, and then there’s Mr. Mullaney, the weirdest, hardest English teacher in the seventh grade who hates everything she does. What’s a girl to do when life gets totally insane?
One of the parts in this fantastic novel that I favoured the most was a turning point in the story. It was a section in the novel where the protagonist (Cassie) gets in trouble by her mother for covering for her sister, helping her little brother with his homework and taking care of everything. Cassie gets punished for helping and protecting her siblings, when she thought she was doing the right thing. This was one of my favorite parts in the story for the reasoning that it was a strengthening the conflict.
Overall, I would rate this enjoyable book 5 out of 5 as it had a wonderful storyline and it was a great book filled with suspense and mystery. It included great detail which helped the reader to further understand the book. I would definitely recommend this exhilarating novel for any readers who interest in suspenseful and adventurous books. 
