I choose "Everybody Else's Parents Said Yes" to be the first book of a new, middle school Mother-Daughter Book Club I was starting at my daughter's school. I choose it primarially based on Paula Danzinger's other works I had heard of, & because my daughter thought it looked good. Overall, I thought it was disappointing & not up to Paula's usual standard, but it did have flashes of strength, & got better as the story progressed. Parts of it seemed dated as well. The girls enjoyed the sibling interactions, & said that parents often did seem that way to them! As a group, we gave it a fairly low rating, because no girl wanted to spend her own money on it.

This is a wonderful example of a girl learning how to come out of her private bubble, her screener, and learning to love the world. As you can tell, at first she isn't happy about being there, but her Aunt and Uncle are quite patient and unnderstand her, helping her put out roots in this new land. Her friends; espically Guthrie, the life lover and passionate natrualist, help her to come out of her bubble and experiance life for how it is, to its best abilities. You will feel peace when you finish this book, your mind going over and over your favorite parts, thinking about Lila, and repeating the avalance in your head. I dearly hope to see a sequel, or at least a note in some future book about an Aunt and Uncle or Godparent improving that someone's life in some way. This book left me with the feeling that life is indeed fantastico, Viva viva libero!!

My Dog Skip is poignant, sweet & heart-warming. Due to an intense "midnight in the cemetary" scene that is an integral part of the story, I would not recommend it for anyone under 6. As an adult, its multi-layering enriches the movie experience. For a kid, it is a good story, entertainingly told.

It does deal with important life issues in relationships, race, public perception & maturity. In skimming over the racial aspects though, I did wonder what was in the book that got left out.

It's not too often a movie comes along & makes you think about things that seem to "just happen" to us, as well as the choices we make. Also, with the richness of this movie, I want to track down the book to enjoy the original thought processes at a slower pace. Altogether, a thoroughly enjoyable movie I would highly recommend. Enjoy!!!