…isn’t bad enough, my mother is running for president!  Just had to get the rest of that in there.  Sometimes I wonder that I bother to spotlight these books that I’m sure everyone has read…and then I remember that I just read it! lol

Moreover, I loved it.  So, what if there’s someone missing out but doesn’t know it yet because I haven’t spotlighted the book? Well, I’m here for them. 🙂

The number one thing I loved most about As if Being 12 and 3/4 (and it wasn’t easy to pick) is the true-blue through and through authenticity of Vanessa Rothrock.  She may be the governor’s daughter and possibly on her way to the white house, but she’s also exactly the kind of girl I was at that age.  Minus the body guard, campaigning mother, and ability to spell, of course.  Ms. Gephart does a fantastic job of capturing the confused bundle of vacillating emotions and decisions of tween/teen girls as Vanessa navigates boys and her support of her mother’s campaign.  When things get dangerous, Vanessa has to recognize when you should speak out and when you should stay quiet.  She falls on both sides of the line, often at the worst possible time, but she learns from her mistakes and in the end saves the day in a quintessentially Vanessa way.  Best of all, she does it all with wit and laughter!

Let’s see what Apricot-kitty thought of it.

“Well, I liked twisty plot path, especially between the two boys.  A cat couldn’t lay a better trail.  And I enjoyed the drama at the end, and the mother’s ambitions.  But there wasn’t much food and only the lemon bars were memorable.  I hate lemon bars.  Why couldn’t Vanessa have better taste?”

Trust my cat to bad mouth lemon bars!  Personally, I find it’s better I not make the things as they’re too much temptation.  Perhaps it’s just as well I’m not the Governor, then, with someone to make them for me…though I wouldn’t say no to a behind the scenes tour that included just one!  Do you think you’d enjoy being a Governor?  Or is it the kind of job you’d place just after assistant pig keeper?

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