Reviewed by Cana Rensberger for TeensReadToo.com

You think Junior High is tough? Ha! It's nothing compared to Sara Thurman's eighth grade year! It all starts when Sara finally “becomes a woman” and - get this - her mother sends her - PERIOD flowers! On Valentine's Day! Yeah. You heard right. Ever try to keep a secret in Junior High? Only one person knows who sent those flowers besides Sara, and that's her best friend, Arlene. You can imagine Sara's hurt and confusion when she realizes everyone knows why she got the flowers. And it's only lunchtime!

You've heard of Murphy's Law? You know: If something can go wrong, it probably will. And it does for Sara. Things go from bad to worse. To top it off, she and Arlene have their first ever fight in front of everyone. How can she trust her best friend when Arlene's the only one who could have betrayed her?

Luckily for Sara, she's made a new friend. She met her that same fateful day that she received her red-tipped, white roses. Together, they vow to turn Sara's embarrassment into a nomination for class favorite. They watch the popular girls. They read magazines and clip out pictures and articles. Soon, they have a list of things Sara must do to become popular, which Sara follows faithfully. Will the popular kids notice her? Talk to her? Will her crush, Jason, like her new look? And will she and Arlene ever be friends again?

Taylor Morris has captured the heart of an eighth grader in CLASS FAVORITE. The characters were believable, although, at times, I felt they just as easily could have been sixth or seventh graders. I feel certain that any girl who has ever wished to be part of the popular crowd will totally relate to this book. And because it made me laugh out loud more than once, I give it five stars! ( )

All that Sara Thurman wants is to be popular. Unfortunately for her, disaster after disaster (or as disastrous as middle school can get) comes her way. Sara keeps on getting publicly humiliated, which doesn’t help her goal at all, or so she thinks.

It all starts when she “becomes a woman.” Sara’s mom finds this out and sends Sara flowers. Unfortunately, the flowers reach the wrong destination, Sara’s middle school to be exact, and everyone finds out about Sara’s secret. Sara puts all the blame on her best friend Arlene because Arlene was the only person she told the secret to. Soon, another friendship develops with the new girl Kirstie, who helps Sara create a list of everything that will help Sara become popular.

When I first read the cover of this book, I thought oh no, not another one of these. But I was glad when it turned out that the main character was not one of those popular girls with all their problems, but someone from the opposite end of the spectrum, the girl with few friends who wishes she was more popular. I also did not expect the ending of this novel, but it was better than the ending I expected.

Sara’s character is very believable, and so are her issues dealing with her friends, family, school, and boys. There’s a much drama as there can be in a middle school, but I found that some of Sara’s issues were overdramatized. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this novel, including that popularity is overrated and that people aren’t always who you expect them to be. I liked watching Sara grow and mature, and overall, this book was a good read. I recommend this for middle schoolers, and even if you are older, I think you can still enjoy this.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com ( )