Eight-year-old Mallory is moving away from her best friend Mary Ann in this predictable effort for chapter-book readers. The first-person narrative should provide insight into the young protagonist; instead it limits the story to Mallory’s self-pitying point of view. She seems spoiled as she whines about the move, adjusts to her new neighborhood, befriends neighbor Joey, and eventually runs away with Mary Ann after a weekend visit. Joey’s sister, Winnie, and Mallory’s brother, Max, lack any depth besides playing their cardboard roles as evil siblings. The parents, rather than taking a stand against the interminable mean-spirited sparring, seem to accept that their children will say and do cruel things to one another. Indeed, the spoiled Mallory is rewarded first with a trip to a restaurant and later with take-out Chinese food after being “punished” for her bratty behavior. A flat effort at depicting a familiar life passage. (Fiction. 7-10)
