Tour Book - Book Review - Millicent Marie is Not My Name - Karen Pokras Toz

Title:  Millicent Marie is Not My Name

Author: Karen Pokras Toz

Review:  Millicent Marie Is Not My Name is the story of a 6th grade girl who feels like she is good at nothing and worst at everything.

The story opens with Millies mother calling her down stairs, while she is writing in her diary on her computer, she does not close it and her brother comes in and publishes her diary on the web.  After getting away with this, he finally decides to make a blog out of her diary which is signed Amanda, because Millicent Marie is not her name only the name her parents call her.  She longs to have a fun name, a cute name so she has chosen Amanda to sign her diary, which by the way, she thought was being kept private, but found to her horror it was now a blog.  “DOOGLE”

"Dear Amanda

“I just read your diary and it was very good, I am so glad your brother posted it on the web and that now you are giving advice on a blog for those of us at Springdale that feel like we are not popular as we want to be.  I need someone to talk to about my problems and so I want to tell you….”"

The problems at school, not to mention the problems at home, such as parents who want to come to everything she is in and are always making her help out around the house, are just too much for her, so she finds writing advice to the kids at Springdale school helps to relive the pressure, until that fateful day…..

This 6th grade year is just beginning and Millicent Marie, who goes by Millie at school and Millicent Marie at home, let’s Nat, her best friend since kindergarten, talk her into doing the 6th grade play.  She does not want a part she only wants to work on the scenery but while holding the scenery up one day she see Romeo and falls in 12 year old love.  The 6th grade dance is going to be held in a few months and her heart’s desire is to have Romeo “Jordan” to ask her, Millicent Marie, to go, but how to get him to even notice her???

In between problems with her 6th grade love life and dealing with “demanding parents” she is writing a blog about the problems at Springdale such as the elimination of 6th grade recess and while we are at it how about having 6th grade graduation like all the other schools have?

The blog starts out just to be a fun activity where she is receiving emails from some of the most popular kids in school, even boys!!  But as time passes, it all gets out of hand and “Amanda” loses control of the blog so that…..

Well I guess if you want to know more you will just have to read the book.  Good book for ages 10-12, mainly girls. I give this book five stars, it is well written for the age group it is intended for.

Thanks go to Eileen for this review.

Publisher: Expected publication: October 11th 2012 by Grand Daisy Press

ISBN: 9780984860852

Copyright: 2012

Quick Review: 5 out of 5-well written for the age group it’s intended for.

Why I Read It:  Sent by the author for review.

Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Millicent Marie does not like her name. After all, she was named for a woman who died more than fifty years ago and was not the most loveable member of the Harris family. Her friends call her Millie, but when she writes in her diary she refers to herself as Amanda – the name she always wished she had.

When Millie’s younger brother finds her diary on her computer, he decides to publish it as a blog for the entire world to see, including the boy Millie has a crush on. In the midst of all the mayhem, Millie/Amanda discovers she is suddenly Springside Elementary’s most sought after sixth-grade mystery gossip and advice columnist.

But not all is fun and games, as Millie quickly learns, once she realizes feelings are at stake. Nobody, least of all Millie, expects things to turn out as they do in this tale of friendship and respect.

Author Biography:   Karen Pokras Toz is a writer, wife and mom. Karen grew up in Orange, Connecticut and currently lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband and three children. In June 2011, Karen published her first middle grade children’s novel for 7-12 year olds called Nate Rocks the World. The second book in the Nate Rocks series, Nate Rocks the Boat, is to be published in the spring of 2012. Karen is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI).