"I have locks on my door to keep my parents out. But if they ever tried them, they'd find out that the locks don't really work."

Sadder than "Millicent Minn" but good. ( )

This is a review of the three book "sort of trilogy." Millicent Min, Girl Genius, Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time, and So Totally Emily Ebers

It's a trilogy in a way. The three books go together. But they can be read in any order, and if you read only one or two, you still have complete stories. Each book is told in first person by the title character. The three books take place during the same time frame, the summer before 7th grade for Stanford and Emily. (Millicent is the same age, 12, but she is about to finish high school.) Each character is telling his or her own story, but because the three know each other, there are episodes that overlap in two or three of the books. Then you have the same events being told from a different character's perspective.

All three characters are sympathetic and very likable, though each has their own demons and character weaknesses to conquer.

Millicent is afraid her mother is dying, and her beloved grandmother is planning to leave the country for a while to study feng shui in England. She has never had a friend her own age, because her exceptional intelligence scares people off. She doesn't know how to relate to kids her own age. She needs a friend. During the summer, she becomes friends with Emily Ebers, and if forced against her will to tutor the dim witted (in her opinion) Stanford Wong. Stanford and Emily meanwhile fall head over heels in love with each other.

Stanford is afraid his parents are going to get a divorce, and nothing he does is ever enough to please his dad. He has a huge crush on the new girl in town, Emily Ebers, but he has to pass English in Summer School or he fails 6th grade. Hence, tutoring by Millicent. He is obsessed with basketball, and is a star player. His group of friends includes one jerk, who gets his comeuppance in the end. Stanford's fearsome English teacher turns out to be different than he originally thought as well.

Emily has just moved to town with her newly divorced mother. She is angry with her mother about the divorce, and her story is told in diary entries addressed to her Dad, who is an aging rock musician trying to recapture his glory days, reviving his old band and going on tour during the summer. He never calls, and only occasionally sends her a postcard. Meanwhile she gets a close friend in Millicent, and a crush on Stanford, but she is also longing to join the popular clique, led by frequently obnoxious Julie.

Each of the three learns valuable lessons in non-preachy ways. You will root for them all. (For the young reader audience the Millicent Min book may be slightly less appealing. It's just as good of a book, but most kids will not relate to a 12 year old about to graduate high school as well as a 12 year old coping with divorce and moving or a 12 year old coping with failing school and lack of acceptance by his father.) ( )

This book takes place over the same summer as "Millicent Min, Girl Genius,"; in fact, the author repeats some of the dialog from MMGG. This is Stanford's story. He's a basketball standout at risk of being dropped from the middle school's A-team because he flunked an English class. Instead of an NBA basketball camp to look forward to, he attends summer school with his dreaded English teacher. Besides the horror of having Millicent tutor him, Stanford has troubles at home. His parents put his grandmother into a senior home. His parents also argue regularly and his father is too absorbed in working toward a promotion to spend time with Stanford or encourage him in his schoolwork. The bright spots in his summer are hanging with his Roadrunner friends and falling for Emily, Millicent's friend. A rather standard YA novel but the layering of stories and issues add some substance.

Since I was a 6th grade language arts teacher, I made a lot of connections while reading this book. The diary like format of the book makes it an easy read. I think this book would be a great literature circle book for 6th or 7th graders. ( )