School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-In this sequel to My Big Sister Is So Bossy She Says You Can't Read This Book (Random, 2005), 10-year-old Effie Maloney is concerned about keeping her athletic friend Aurora in their private Catholic school instead of transferring to a public school that lets her play on a basketball team, and where she feels more comfortable. A second plot surrounds the adult males in Effie's life. Her father is in prison for embezzling, and a priest who is a college friend of her mom's is facing a crisis and has temporarily moved in. The family is supposed to keep his profession a secret, but Effie's sister gets religion. When Effie and her friend Nit plan a slumber party with a pirate theme, chaos reigns, with an uninvited guest, disastrous hair dyes, and a surprise visit from a monsignor. Each chapter opens with drawings of the characters featured in it. Full of too many plots and too little action, this book drags and seems a little petty. Public school children are made to look like ogres. Other characters are stereotyped or unbelievable. Readers would be better served by Marissa Moss's "Amelia" books (S & S) or Rebecca Rupp's Sarah Simpson's Rules for Living (Candlewick, 2008).-Debbie Whitbeck, West Ottawa Public Schools, Holland, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Hershey's hilarious sequel to My Big Sister Is So Bossy She Says You Can't Read this Book (2006) throbs with energy and narrator Effie's warm, sarcastic wit. Life goes on with her now-divorced dad in prison, but Effie's more exuberant because she has two tremendous best friends. She gets worried, however, when best friend Aurora wants to transfer to a school with a hot basketball team and escape the boys at St. Dom's who tease her about her burgeoning breasts. In solidarity, Effie and her other best friend Nit don empty bras that create slight bumps under their shirts. Effie is further unnerved when Mom invites a college friend to take sanctuary in their home while he struggles with his vocation as a Catholic priest, and her older sister begins to affect religious behavior. Effie agonizes about the possibility that her mother may be falling for another loser like dad. All Hershey's characters are complex people, but it is Effie's unique fourth-grade wisdom and way with words that will touch readers' hearts and funny bones. (Fiction. 9-11) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Fourth-grader Effie, her sister Maxey, and their mom are back in this sequel to My Big Sister Is So Bossy She Says You Can't Read This Book (2005). Effie's life is perfect now that she has two best friends, Nit and Aurora until the Valentine's Day fiasco, when Aurora gets suspended from St. Dominic's and may end up at public school. Effie is crushed at the thought of losing her new friend. In the meantime, Frank, a priest who is a college friend of Effie's mother, mysteriously arrives and decides to stay. Effie wishes Frank would leave, and wants to know what he is hiding. With so much going on, it's no wonder that Effie's St. Patrick's Day party doesn't turn out quite as she had planned. Humor, warmth, and Effie's Catholic values shine through in this entertaining story, in which luck, friends, and family save the day. Though a companion story, this book works equally well as a stand-alone title.--Yusko, Shauna Copyright 2008 Booklist