“The tantrum-prone protagonist of this multi-layered debut novel seems a smidge spoiled at first glance, but underneath eight-year-old Isabel's fits-and-starts temper lies a very ordinary need for attention.” Publishers Weekly

Reviews

 “Learning how to share her mother with the baby and with the “sick ladies” (her mother's cancer support group), much less how to gain some optimism, Isabel realizes that adults as well as kids can grow from their mistakes.”
     —Publishers Weekly

“Pearce truly understands how a young child views the world and conveys Isabel's thoughts and frustrations with compassion. A fine debut.”
     —Kirkus Reviews

“This story, told from the eight-year-old’s point of view, perfectly captures her fierce desire to be independent and to disobey her mother’s rules while still wanting to be held and cuddled like her new sister. Isabel is a real girl who sometimes laughs at the mistakes of her classmates and says hurtful things. Her better nature is revealed when she reluctantly helps a new boy in her class. Pearce gets into the mind and soul of a child who would forgo her conscience and do and say nearly anything to belong to the pack of pink-and-purple girls. That struggle is what sets this book apart from the dozens of others with the new-sibling theme.”
     —School Library Journal

“This debut novel is no sweet story of sibling rivalry. While avoiding heavy messages, Pearce manages to make the drama at home and school compelling. She also stays true to the child's angry viewpoint, and readers will be surprised to find that they can care about a character who is so mean.”
     —Booklist

“New elder siblings — and parents who expect them to share their own delight with baby brothers or sisters — will find a sympathetic, feisty protagonist in Isabel. Her short temper with the "sick ladies' meetings," as she calls her mother's cancer support groups, and the confused anger and anxiety Isabel feels regarding her mother, will be familiar to the families of cancer patients as well. (And she does eventually come around to baby Rebekah.)”
     —Denver Post

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