Annie's Adventure

Title: Annie’s Adventure
Author: Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Genre: kid’s mystery
Published: 2008
Series: The Sisters Eight
Next in series: Druinda’s Dangers

Summary:
Annie and her seven sisters are octuplets. On New Years Eve 2007, their scientist mother (mommy) and model father (daddy) disappear from their house. “The Eight” (as they call themselves) decide not to alert the authorities, fend for themselves, and find their parents. But to do so, they must each discover their hidden talent and their gift. In this installment Annie finds her talent and gift, helps her sisters overcome the first month without any adults and learns to drive.

Review:
The Sisters Eight’s life revolves around that number in a way that would seem amusing if it weren’t so overdone. There are eight girls born on the 8th of August. Their last name means eight in French. They have eight cats. It goes on from there. The sisters portray the usual rolls as “first child” being bossy, last child being the baby, the third child nitpicking and being uptight. Since this was Annie’s book, she’s the most developed character in it, and since it’s the first book she’s the most developed in the series.

Their world is that of any eight-year-olds: home and school. From a well off family, the girls live in an almost-castle and go to a private school where they make up eighty percent of the class. And luckily for the Sisters Eight, all of the adults in this world have the brain of an amoeba, which makes their antics doable.

Perspective:
Annie’s Adventure is told from the perspective of one of the Eight, although I never figured out which one it was. So, it’s sort of an odd first person, in that there are a lot of “we”s going on.

My Thoughts:
Honestly, I wasn’t that taken with the first book in this series. It may have had something to do with the fact I was reading it in the airport and my plane was delayed, but frankly I consider every adult in this book to be astoundingly stupid to the point that even children won’t find it believable. It got on my nerves. I won’t be reading the others.

Favorite Scene:
The girls going to the toy store was perhaps the most amusing scene in this book for me. When Annie dresses up as a man and then pretends to be a midget, while unrealistic, made me smile. However, since there were so many more scenes that made me frown, I have to list my least favorite as well. I despised the scene where Annie is handed the bills and runs out in tears, screaming. It was out of character for her, and was just too sudden. It’s never a good idea to have a character step out of the personality you’ve built for them.

Who this book is best for:
This is best for girls who are between seven and nine, who are picking up their first chapter books. Anyone else will be bored.

Violence: 0 of 5

Stars: 2.5 of 5 (honestly, I was very bored with this book. It’s a good thing it was short or it may have been my first “didn’t finish” of Book Dame.)