Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Happy New Year, Mallory!
Fiction Series
For ages 7 to 9
Lerner Books, 2010 ISBN: 978-0761339472
New Year’s Eve in Mallory’s household is usually a lot of fun. This year Mallory’s mother is having her usual special New Year’s Eve dessert party, Mallory and her brother Max will get to stay up late, it is supposed to snow, and Grandma is coming to visit. There is also one additional thing that is going to happen; Mallory’s two friends from summer camp are coming to stay for three days and Mallory’s best friend Maryanne will also be staying over.
Carine and Taylor will be arriving in two days, and Mallory and Maryanne start planning what they are going to do. All is going well except that Mallory has a bit of a stomach ache. She doesn’t really feel like eating much, and isn’t even tempted when she is offered warm muffins and hot chocolate. Mallory is determined not to tell anyone about her stomach problems because she doesn’t want to do anything to jeopardize the coming celebration.
The next morning Mallory starts counting down the hours before her friends arrive. She also starts noticing that her stomach hurts even more. She finally gets to the point where she admits to herself that her “stomach officially hurts.” Even her parents start to notice that all is not well with their daughter.
When she wakes up on the big day Mallory is thrilled because it has snowed in the night and because her friends will be there soon. She is really worried though because her stomach hurts more than ever. Carine and Taylor arrive with lots of hugs, smiles, and shouts. Poor Mallory discovers that it even hurts to laugh, and when the four girls go outside to build a snowman, Mallory’s stomach finally makes it clear that enough is enough. Try as she might, Mallory can do longer hide the fact that something is seriously wrong.
It is very hard when one makes plans for a special and happy event only to have ones hopes dashed at the last minute. This is what happens to Mallory, and her disappointed is very easy to understand. Told from Mallory’s point of view, we get to see things through her eyes, and we can sympathize as she tries to come to terms with the fact that her friends get to have all the fun while she is sick.
This is one in a series of book about Mallory.
