Books like Notes from a Liar and Her Dog

Antonia--"Ant" for short--has a lot of problems: Her mom adores her two blonde, ballerina sisters, but is constantly exasperated with the "nut-brown," non-dancing Ant. Her dad keeps quitting perfectly good jobs and moving the family across the country. Her entire family hates her dog. And on top of all that, a concerned art teacher has starting investigating why Ant insists that she's adopted and her real family is coming back for her any day. The question that nobody can seem to answer is: does Antonia's mom ignore her because Antonia causes so much trouble, or does Antonia cause so much trouble because her mom ignores her? Notes From a Liar and Her Dog is a little bit like an older, more complex spin on the Ramona books, in that Ant is always getting into scrapes due to her in ability to communicate clearly with adults. But Choldenko writes with her own distinct voice, in a style that is both funny and thoughtful at the same time. Even though most people, at one time or another, have been in a relationship with a family member, friend, or partner where everything that is said is misunderstood, and it seems impossible to ever get things back to normal--even though almost everyone has had this experience, it can be hard to describe how that situation plays out and how it feels, because it's so inexplicable to the person experiencing it. Choldenko does an amazing job of capturing the frustration and murkiness of that situation, with all the complexity of a mother-daughter relationship tangled up in it. Recommended for moms who are out of patience with their kids and kids who are out of patience with their moms. Also recommended for art teachers and very small dogs.Five stars.