Scarlett has left her old school and her old friends for a new start at Brookline Academy for Girls. A scandal involving her father tainted her old life and she wants to be where no one knows anything about it. Brookline is a rigorously academic boarding school, and Scarlett has a new roommate to adjust to, as well as a heavy load of homework. She somehow gets roped into joining the basketball team, which ought to be interesting as she doesn't really play sports, and a pen pal project her English teacher initiates makes Scarlett's life very interesting indeed.

This compelling, quick and fun read will be highly appealing to middle school aged girls. Main character Scarlett is in eighth grade and deals with issues such as adjusting to a new school, making new friends, and struggling with challenging classes. She is somewhat of a fish out of water, in a school where academics are everything, and she doesn't fit in right away. The big secret Scarlett is trying to keep is that her father was fired and investigated for embezzling money from a very well-known company. She gets blackmailed by her pen pal, as he threatens to reveal her secret if she does not figure out which of the four statements he sends are true and which one is a lie. The lengths to which she must go to investigate these statements lead her to trouble with the school authorities on more than one occasion. Scarlett's relationship with her father is strained as a result of his embezzlement and the ensuing public embarrassment, and she struggles with trying to figure out how she feels about him. This story ends on a positive note, with Scarlett having made a true new friend, with her experiencing some success on the basketball team, with a new boy in her life and with her having reached out to her father. Scarlett's story is told with humor and she is an endearing and extremely likable character.

{be the first to share your thoughts about this book}

{Click on a keyword to find other books containing the same subject matter}