Books like The Fashion Disaster that Changed my Life

Oh dear. I felt like I was back in high school reading this book. "The Fashion Disaster that Changed my Life" focuses on the junior high school woes of Alli, a girl who missed a significant portion of sixth grade and now can't find her place in the seventh. Even worse, Alli shows up to the first day of school with a pair of her mother's panties clinging to her sweatpants. Alli must deal with this tragedy and endure the ridicule of her classmates. Alli even has to deal with ridicule from her best friend, Kathy, who, typical of many junior high school girls, isn't really a friend to Alli at all. Alli finds hope in friendship with the new girl, Megan. However, even though Megan and Alli start to form a deep friendship, the popular crowd becomes too tempting for Alli and she finds herself in the clutches of the class queen bee, Rachel Delaney. Kathy gives Alli a hard time for hanging out with Rachel and her cronies, and even Megan seems to be hurt by the lack of time that Alli has for her old friends. Even though Alli sees flawed humanity in her new, popular friends, she justifies their behavior and seeks their approval. Eventually Alli starts to pick up some bad habits herself and doesn't know what to do.I seriously couldn't believe how accurate this novel was to the real experience of junior high school, right down to the lunchroom foods/activities. For most girls, junior high school drama centers on social connections and alienating friendships. Lauren Myracle, the author of the book, has the reader remembering specific people from his or her junior high school past. I remember the Kathys in my life. I was a Kathy at one point. I remember feeling conflicted over how I treated other people, but unable to stop being a jerk because bad behavior got me more attention than being nice. The strongest quality of Myracle's novel is its ability to make the reader relive his or her junior high school experience all over again. I can't imagine how this book must be for girls in junior high school. I assume that it would be a huge eye-opener, for many of the lessons that Myracle teaches young girls don't learn until later schooling.I very much enjoyed reading "The Fashion Disaster that Changed My Life". Alli made me wish that I had been a better person in high school. She was comical and kind, yet just as susceptible to teen pressures as anyone else. I liked reading her story in diary form and having her speak to the audience. I found this book to be somewhat reminiscent of Louise Rennison's "Angus, Thongs, and Full-frontal Snogging", though with a more complete ending (obviously, because Rennison's books are in a series). I don't think that guys would enjoy Myracle's book, but it might be good for them to read, if they are in high school, so that they can understand their female peers. Myracle's book is just that accurate.