Candyfloss

"Gr 4-7-Flossie's mom is remarried and has a prosperous life with her husband and baby. Flossie's dad, however, is close to 40 and hasn't gotten it together. Overweight, depressed, and financially hard up, he is his own worst enemy. When Flossie's mom and stepdad move to Sydney for six months, Flossie convinces her mother to let her stay with her loving but inept father in London. Her life changes drastically when she starts going to school looking unkempt and smelling of her father's greasy-spoon cafe. She loses her superficial and status-conscious friends, but makes friends with Susan, whose background is more like hers. After numerous trials that end in near homelessness, Flossie's father finally puts the divorce behind him. When he encounters Rose, a fortune-teller and cotton-candy maker with a traveling carnival, he's met his true match. Flossie is a likable character who discovers the meaning of true friendship, suffers hardship with aplomb, and learns some important life lessons along the way. Readers will cheer her on and feel satisfaction when she sees her ex-best friend for the bully and snob that she is." --Catherine Ensley, Latah County Free Library District, Moscow, ID, School Library Journal

"Floss, bless her brave little heart, is showing up in a publishing era that is largely ignoring stories like hers in favor of glitzier, sexier mean-girl fare. For girls who have outgrown Ramona, but are still wary of ""The Clique,"" Floss makes an able, admirable companion. She may not live next door, but you'll wish she did." --The New York Times Book Review

". . . a poignant, gently humorous, and totally satisfying tale. Flossie is charmingly believable . . ." --Booklist, Starred Review

"This tension paces a novel that contains many compelling, sometimes gritty, elements . . . Floss's emotional turmoil should hook girls." --Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Wilson (second in popularity only to J.K. Rowling in the UK) mixes familiar situations and concerns with a brisk pace and a main character her tween-girl readers would like to be best friends with--quite the winning package." --The Horn Book Magazine

"Flossie is a likable character who discovers the meaning of true friendship, suffers hardship with aplomb, and learns some important life lessons along the way. Readers will cheer her on and feel satisfaction when she sees her ex-best friend for the bully and snob that she is." --School Library Journal

"British author Wilson portrays heavy issues of poverty, bankruptcy, drunken/bawdy adult behavior, bullying and unconditional parental/child love through a determined protagonist and a group of believable secondary characters." --Kirkus Reviews