Book Review: Dear Pen Pal (The Mother-Daughter Book Club, #3) by Heather Vogel Frederick

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Dear Pen Pal (The Mother-Daughter Book Club, #3)  by Heather Vogel Frederick  is the third book in a middle grade book series that is being rereleased. Chaos erupts in this third installment as the daughters in the book club get themselves into trouble. Each of the girls have big changes in their lives:  Jess is going to boarding school; Megan's grandmother comes to live with her; Emma starts a campaign against school uniforms; Cassidy has a lot of unexpected change coming to her family. Will the mother daughter book club stay together? I'd like to thank NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Dear Pen Pal  by Heather Vogel Frederick with it's upcoming rerelease to the public. I always love a good book that involves books, even if its target audience is children between the ages of eight and twelve. It wasn't until I reached the end of the book that I realized that it...
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Book Review: Mary-Anne's Bad-Luck Mystery (The Baby-Sitters Club, #17) by Ann M. Martin

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Mary Annes Bad Luck Mystery The BabySitters Club #17 Ann M Martin
Mary-Anne Spier knew she shouldn't have thrown out the chain letter she received. Not only is she having the worst luck, but the rest of the baby-sitters club keep having bad things happen to them too! When Mary-Anne starts receiving letters threatening her and the rest of the club, and a bad luck charm necklace to wear, several emergency meetings of the baby-sitters club are called by Kristy so they can figure out how to counter act the bad luck.

What can I say about Mary-Anne's Bad-Luck Mystery (The Baby-Sitters Club, #17)? Holy nostalgia, Batman! This book made me feel nostalgic for my childhood . . . do kids even send chain letters any more, and do they still believe in things like breaking a mirror causes seven years bad luck?

This is one of the books in the series that I remember better than some of the others, and it was such a joy to reread. I figured out who sent the threatening letters and bad luck charm necklace very easily just as I did as a child.  The one thing that bugs me now (and remember bugging me when I first read it) was that there was no resolution to who actually sent the chain letter. It would have been nice to have that wrapped up in the ending.

I loved the fact that the story included a school dance and that it actually happened at night time like it did when I was in eighth grade. Now, if I remember correctly, the middle school dances happen immediately after school lets out, which takes all the fun out of it . . . at least to me it would. Another thing I loved was that it finally included more scenes with Logan, which made his character seem more real.

There really isn't anything bad that I can say about Mary-Anne's Bad-Luck Mystery (The Baby-Sitters Club, #17). This book made me want Ann M. Martin to write a lot more mysteries and was a major influence in making me love the mystery genre. I gave this book five out of five stars.


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