I’ve enjoyed reading the many posts from Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM) the past year and thought it was time to pay back with one of my own. Since I have been writing in the first person POV, my reviews of books will be in that same category. First up: IDA B … and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan.

Date of Publication: 2004

Page count: 35,137

Publisher’s description: Ida B. Applewood believes there is never enough time for fun.

That’s why she’s so happy to be homeschooled and to spend every free second outside with the trees and the brook.

Then some not-so-great things happen in her world. Ida B has to go back to that Place of Slow but Sure Body-Cramping, Mind-Numbing, Fun-Killing Torture—school. She feels her heart getting smaller and smaller and hardening into a sharp, black stone.

How can things go from righter than right to a million miles beyond wrong? Can Ida B put together a plan to get things back to just-about perfect again?

Five things I liked:

1) The environmental theme with Ida B really caring about what is happening to her family’s land. She talks to the trees and the brooks and they understand each other.

2) Ida B’s spunkiness and her ability to speak her mind and work out her problems by talking about them.

3) The rural farm setting.

4) The real life jolting experiences Ida B must endure like a parent being sick, a school she hates, and feeling bad about treating others poorly.

5) Her fourth grade teacher. This is what great teachers do every day to bring out the best in each of their students.

Favorite Line: “And we were quiet the rest of the way home, just enjoying the breeze that was blowing through the stars.”

Who will love this book? Girls … especially those who may be lacking confidence.