Review by Booklist Review
Calli Gold hasn't yet found what her father calls her passion. Her brother is a star basketball player, and her sister attends endless skate-team practices, but Calli is less worried about this void than her parents are. A wise 11-year-old, she also perceives that her sister isn't happy on the ice and that her father is overly involved in her brother's games. Hurwitz's engaging debut charts how Calli makes her family see an alternative to the rush-rush lifestyle they lead. The author has created an appealing narrator, who's quiet, observant, and stuck in a family of louds. Calli quotes the exasperating things her parents say as they prod her through the family's busy schedule and promote her involvement in one area or another. At the same time, she is drawn to help a second-grade boy who needs a good friend. Hurwitz nicely conveys the sense that it's OK for reserved Calli to be loud sometimes with outbursts that she didn't plan and behavior she didn't expect and that families can be enriched by their younger members' ideas.--Nolan, Abby Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
It's hard not to fall in love with 11-year-old Calli Gold, who is forced into the role of quiet observer in her very busy, boisterous, and achievement-oriented family. Her sister is on the ice-skating team, her brother is a basketball star, and the family calendar is filled with everyone's activities except Calli's ("Light yellow is the color of my Post-its. There are only two of them on the Calendar.... One is for a dentist appointment and the other is for a haircut"). She is shuttled around between her siblings' engagements, occasionally forced to try yet another after-school activity that ultimately disappoints both her and her family. Things change, however, when she meets second-grader Noah Zullo, who has a similarly detail-oriented perspective on the world and is in dire need of a friend. The pressures of modern family life come through loud in clear in Hurwitz's debut novel, which should speak to children who, like Calli, know what it's like to be a normal, even average, member of a family that values success above all else. Ages 8-12. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Eleven-year-old Calli Gold is a quiet, perceptive child born into a family of overachievers. Her older sister is on an ice-skating team and her brother is a high school basketball star. Calli's parents expect their children to "be Gold" and realize their full potential, but Calli hasn't found her niche yet, and doesn't know if she has or even wants one. She tries to explain this to her parents, but to no avail, as they sign her up for class after class. In school her class has been paired with second graders in a Peer Helper Program and Calli chooses Noah Zullo as her partner-a new student who seems to have Asperger's syndrome. Calli slowly makes progress with Noah, patiently talking and interacting with him until he feels comfortable, and they are able to come up with a project for the classes' joint Friendship Fair. Still under pressure from her parents, Calli eventually triggers a confrontation that forces them to reexamine their expectations for her and her siblings and also their overscheduled life. This is a well-done first novel that clearly presents a young girl struggling to figure out just who she is and how she fits in her family. Readers will sympathize (and possibly identify) with Calli, and Hurwitz also does a good job revealing the adults' motivations.-Terrie Dorio, Santa Monica Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Fifth-grader Calli is the youngest of three siblings in the super-driven, hyper-talented, overscheduled Gold clan. The harder her parents push her to find a special talent, the more alone Calli feels--until she meets a reticent second-grader and discovers her true ability. Affable Calli is a sea of calm--and common sense--in this satisfying story about family pressures and self-actualization. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Eleven-year-old Calli wishes she could be goldat anything, because then maybe her helicopter parents might finally be satisfied with her. Unfortunately, she doesn't stack up well against her older brother, Alex, a high-school basketball star, or her older sister, Becca, a figure skater. Her parents focus solely on accomplishments, with her father scouting opposing basketball teams and endlessly coaching Alex and her mother managing the older teens' hectic schedules with a calendar (and a steering wheel) liberally pasted with Post-its. But things are more complex than the frustrated girl understands. Becca and Alex are feeling the pressure, too, and Becca, especially, is starting to balk. Calli's talents clearly lie outside the athletic realm. She meets a second grader, Noah, with many problems, possibly related to Asperger's, and takes him under her wing through a new peer-helper program at school. Empathetically guiding him, she helps ease his difficult way while at the same time trying to live up to her parents' unrealistic expectations. Calli's often-insightful first-person narration provides a thoughtful, child-eyed view look at how adults too often try to find success through their children's achievements. The sometimes over-the-top depiction of stage parents pokes gentle but oh-so-truefun at them, adding to the appeal of this amusing debut. (Fiction. 8-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.