AMY

Amy is one of those silly, hyper-excitable heroines who are hard to warm up to (we never did). She can't stand stuffed shirt Donald Randall and wants to exclude him from her Halloween party for insulting Andrea, the black girl in their sixth grade class--but you never get the idea that her racial sympathies are more than skin deep or anything but self-congratulatory. Amy's liberal parents insist however that she invite the whole class to the party; best friend Janie can't come because Andrea is invited, another gift is kept home because boys will be there, Donald and Andrea have it out and break a lamp in the process, and the party breaks up a flop. Later Amy beats out Donald for class vice president but is disqualified because she's flunking math; then for no evident reason she and Donald suddenly decide to try to get along and Amy even makes plans to shape up in math. There's an equally gratuitous episode midway wherein Amy secretly puts up some posters protesting math and discrimination, then lives in fear that the CIA (!) will catch her. But then there's really no need for any of this.