The Life and Opinions of Amy Finawitz

THE LIFE AND OPINIONS

OF AMY FINAWITZ

By:  Laura Toffler-Corrie

FIRST SENTENCE

“Dear Callie, According to the latest fortune cookie fortune:

When you make change, come back a dollar.”

SUMMARY
from goodreads

Amy Finawitz’s best friend Callie has moved away to the heartland, leaving Amy to cope with eighth grade all alone.  So now, while Callie is going for hayrides with boys named Bucky, Amy is stuck eating Chinese food at a table for one, hanging out with geeky girls who knit, and crushing on hottie, John Leibler, all by herself.  But then Amy finds a friend in Miss Sophia, the little old lady who lives down the hall.  Miss Sophia introduces Amy to a Hasidic boy named Beryl.  Beryl is no John Leibler, but perhaps he understands Amy and her problems better than she realizes?

Told in wry emails and brilliant little one-act plays, this laugh-out-loud debut novel offers quirky characters, a whimsical tour around New York City, and an appealing story about what it means to be a good friend.

REVIEW

My fortune cookies say…

Change can be a good thing.

Amy starts off being very self-centered.  I really didn’t care much for the all-about-me attitude that she had early in the story.  Since Amy’s best friend, Callie, moves away, Amy finds herself being open to making new friends and putting herself out there.  Even though she wasn’t thrilled about it at first, Amy realized that the world does not revolve around her life in New York.

One-sided emails can be confusing.

This entire book is presented as emails from Amy to Callie and one-act plays that Amy writes.  The emails are fun to read, but they can be frustrating to understand because we never see Callie’s replies.  Sometimes, I had some trouble following the conversation.  The one-act plays though, were cute and funny.

Boys are not always as they first appear.

Amy learns an important lesson about boys.  The school hottie, John, is a good guy, but he can be a little self-centered.  On the other hand, Beryl, the Hasidic boy Amy meets has more to offer than it first appears. 

History lessons are not necessarily boring.

I enjoyed reading about Amy’s school history assignment.  She uncovered some interesting tidbits about the past.  I would have loved that assignment!  Maybe I should mention it to my history teacher.

Thank you to Macteenbooks for sending this book for me to review.

RATING

4        Plot

4        Characters

4        Attention Grabbing

5        Girlie Meter

4        Ending

21      TOTAL

5        STARS