The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower

Graff's well-rounded characters and compelling plot kept me reading from page one to the end of the book. Any author who can keep me up all night deserves high praise. Well done, Lisa! Will you write a sequel? Please?

Bernetta Wallflower knows two things: 1) a lot of stuff about magic since her father owns a magic club known as Trunk Number Eight, and 2) people who appear to be your friends can turn on you and leave you with nothing. Accused of running a cheating ring in her private school, Bernetta finds herself without a scholarship to Mount Olive for next year. Because of her problems at school, she is also grounded for the entire summer. She needs $9,000 in her bank account if she hopes to return to Mount Olive for seventh grade, and babysitting appears to be the only thing she is qualified to do. Then Bernetta meets Gabe, a self-professed con artist, and he offers to cut her in on the action he has planned for the summer. Using the sleight-of-hand skills she has learned at her father's magic club and her natural acting talents, Bernetta joins forces with Gabe to earn some serious money. Instead of reporting to her fake babysitting gig, Bernetta meets Gabe at the mall where they begin running scam after scam to earn the money she needs to replace her lost scholarship. After all, it's for a good cause, so how could anyone object? Everything seems to be going smoothly until Ashley Johansson shows up. She is to blame for Bernetta's trouble at school and the suspended scholarship, and now here she is threatening even more trouble. Can Bernetta get what she needs and still find a way to live with her actions? One thing she does learn is that everyone has more than one option in life; it's just about which option you choose. Lisa Graff's THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF BERNETTA WALLFLOWER is a whirlwind adventure in petty crime and accepting the consequences of one's decisions. Graff begins each chapter with a new magic term, and readers will be fascinated with the description of well-known cons used by Bernetta and Gabe. Bernetta's story is sure to entertain, but at the same time present readers with challenging questions about doing the right thing. Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

I loved Lisa Graff's debut novel, The Thing About Georgie, so I was eager to get my hands on her new Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower. In Graff's second novel, which again could satisfy readers who love either chapter books or young adult novels with equal ease, the young characters are brought to life with a vibrancy and memorable quality that is hard to find in modern YA literature. Bernetta, Gabe, Ashley, and the rest of Graff's cast are distinct individuals in some amazing circumstances, yet wholly believable as ordinary kids. I imagine that if I'd had the chance to read this book as a kid, I'd feel a very special connection to the characters. As it is, being an adult who spends a lot of time volunteering with kids of Bernetta's age, I found myself appreciating the subtle depth Graff has given all of the children who populate Bernetta's world. The story itself is so much fun that I spent three straight hours reading the book and couldn't make myself put it down until I'd finally finished it. This book moves along from the first page right to the last sentence - a true page-turner. Twelve-year-old Bernetta falls victim to an elaborate "long con," perpetrated by her supposed best friend, Ashley Johansson. Bernetta is framed for running a cheating ring on the very last day of school, and is suspended - and grounded! While she waits miserably to find out whether she will be expelled from her beloved private school, where she hopes to one day be the valedictorian of the 12th grade just like her sister Elsa, she meets a cute and mysterious boy, Gabe. After Bernetta learns that she may return to the private school if she can come up with the $9,000.00 needed for next year's tuition in 12 weeks, she allows herself to be convinced by Gabe that the only way to do it is to become partners in a con game, suckering unsuspecting people at the local mall and the pier. At first Bernetta enjoys the "new Bernetta" who is so deft at making people hand over their money, and wonders if this is the person she's always been inside. But after she is double-crossed and loses it all again, she begins to wonder whether the new Bernetta is really who she wants to be. Bernetta as a character is unique and unforgettable. From her book-page-munching quirk to her skill at sleight of hand, which impresses even her magician father, she is a girl who will remain in your mind long after the book has been finished. Her special relationship with older sister Elsa is poignant and warming. The way she ultimately deals with her enemy and faces up to the consequences of her actions is inspiring. I found myself wishing for more adventures of Bernetta Wallflower. I don't know whether that wish will come true, but this is the kind of character whose truth and realness just sticks in your imagination, like Anne Shirley. The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower will have a permanent place on my list of recommendations to kids and to adults. And I have a