Thoroughly enjoyable. Although, I thought the incident with Yasaman's younger sister was totally unrealistic. That's not how young children act. Will be recommending this to girls in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades who like realistic, pink books. ( )

Tween girls will eat up this lighthearted but realistic book about friendship and dealing with mean girls. It's a multicultural cast of friends: Violet is black, Katie-Rose is Chinese/white, Camiilla is white and Yasaman is Muslim. Camilla finds her loyalties caught between the queen of mean Modessa (or "Medusa" as Katie-Rose dubs her) and Katie-Rose, a sweetly geeky girl who befriended her over the summer. As the four become friends, they fiind a way to give Modessa a taste of her own medicine. Lib notes: This book generated controversy because Camilla has two mothers. Obviously the protesters automatically threw their hands up and never read past page 55 because they missed the scene on page 187 describing Greek satyrs balancing wine cups on their erections. Yep. And we never even MEET Camilla's other mom! ( )

Luv Ya Bunches
Lauren Myracle
Amulet Books, 335 p.
Hardcover chapter book, tween audience
2009
8-12 years
The powerful desire for close friendship drives this novel about new 5th graders Katie-Rose, Camilla, Yasaman, and Violet. An incident on the first day of school involving a tumble in the hallway and a missing good luck charm leads to a series of events that bring the four together, through funny mishaps, vulnerabilities revealed, and subjection to horrific mean-girl behavior. The four flower-named girls eventually triumph over the mean Populars, and absolute joy is achieved when all four of them IM together on their private homemade social networking site. Young tween girls will identify with the characters' desire for close girl friendship, and rally with them against the manipulative meanies. This book is mostly a light romp through the first week of 5th grade, and characters are not complex, but it could be a fun read for a tween girl yearning for a little social drama.

When I read this book, my primary focus was on the characters. I liked the 4 girls that the story focused on. Each was a very distinct personality, and this showed not only in their approach to events in the book but in the way they told their stories.The four girls all get caught up in a classic girl's bullying scenario. The story follows them as they find ways to deal with the bully and build a healthier network of friendships.The book uses a variety of styles (movie scripts, IM conversations, etc) to relay the girls conversations. The chapters alternate POV, so we can see where each girl is coming from.I found the language a bit flat, but overall, it's a nice kid's book.

Reviewed by Jennifer Rummel for TeensReadToo.com

Katie-Rose doesn't have any friends at school. She's really hoping that over the summer, popular girl Milla will ditch her not-so-nice friends and want to hang out with her, instead.

Milla's not too sure who she wants to be friends with. Her current friends aren't always nice, but she doesn't want to be a social nobody, either.

A new girl, Violet, enters the mix, and she's waiting to see which social group she should join. She's not afraid of resident mean girl, Modessa.

Soon, Katie-Rose befriends Yasaman, who loves computers. She's made her own website where friends can chat with each other.

When Milla's good luck charm disappears, the outcome changes everything. Will the four girls find their way navigating through social pressures?

LUV YA BUNCHES is the first book in a new tween series that mentions Myracles's characters from her other popular INTERNET GIRLS series. This one reads as a younger version of that series, and will contain three more books. It's a very cute story - with IM chat and mini screenplays included. ( )