Cassie Was Here

Joey is Bree's best friend. Bree talks to her when no one else is around - and that's been happening an awful lot lately, with Bree's mom at work and her older brother off doing his own thing. Then a new girl moves in across the street. Confident, cool, and bossy, Cassie immediately impresses the younger girl. Will Bree leave behind her old buddy for a new one? She just might, seeing as how Joey is an imaginary friend. Hopefully, Cassie won't find out about her . . . Cassie Was Here gently captures one girl's impressionable summer in the suburbs. Caroline Hickey's debut novel is adorable. Even if you've ever had an imaginary friend, you've probably needed a real friend - and you might have learned the hard way, like Bree does, that a good friend shouldn't make you do things you don't want to do. Recommended for ages 8 and up.

I read this book before giving it to a ten-year-old babysitting charge so we could discuss it together and found myself enjoying it just as much (as an adult) as she did. It was honest and poignant, yet funny and light, too. Hickey's understanding of kids, their feelings and they way they communicate is remarkable and she makes the book accessible to all. I HIGHLY recommend this book to people of all ages - you'll be doing yourself a favor!

Wow. It's impossible to say too many good things about Cassie Was Here. Over the past few years I've become all too familiar with youth-adolescent literature, and while many of the books my daughter has read have been a real hoot (I usually skim through them so I can discuss them with her from an informed perspective), this one had a lot of brains and even more heart. Let's just say I _more_ than skimmed it because it was really just so resonant (which made me feel less old!). This must be the author's first book since I'm sure work of this quality would have found its way to my daughter's bookshelf (or bedside table, or breakfast table, or the backseat of the car, or on the stairs so I can trip over it- ergh!). Hopefully she'll write another one before my daughter passes through the youth/adolescent window-- otherwise I just might have to pick it up for myself. (Normally I'd be too embarrassed to say that, but hey, it was really good.)