A Reading Vocation

At first I had a little trouble with this book because Zoe was talking about Doug ALL THE TIME, and I really wanted to go back to the friendly banter and the focus on friendship that had been the foundation of the other books in the series. I was relieved to find that this was actually an intentional plot point, and that it set up some of the tension between the girls for this book and the plot for the next one. Once I was reassured that it was intentional and not just lazy writing, I was able to be more forgiving.

The girls' personalities came through pretty strongly in this one and I felt like I got to "know" them better. Some of the story was a little far-fetched (particularly the jeep and the baby chicks), but it was still a fun, light read populated with characters that felt like real teens.