This book is full of fun, colorful characters who just bounce off the page, full of life. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but that just adds to the feel of a full urban neighborhood. Bo is such a relatable character and you can't help but root for her to find her place in her large, exuberant blended family. Top pick! ( )

This was an entertaining story.

It’s deliberately heavy on cultural (black, mostly Jamaican American and African American/Nigerian American) references, and that did make it of particular interest.

All four girls in this book are 11 years old and I think I would have really enjoyed the book when I was in the 9-11 age range.

This is a good story about a blended family. It’s not just the change that comes with a blended family but in this case one of the girls, the one from whose point of view/perspective the story is told (though in third person) but the change is from her living with her mother to moving into a two family house in a different neighborhood (the Bronx to Harlem in Manhattan) that has four adults and four children and having to share a room with one of the other girls and going from traditional school to home free schooling. Also, having lots of companion animals as part of the household which is another new thing for her. The changed relationship with her mother and their ways of communication is poignantly related. The jealousy and confusion and also the pride and fun and love she feels are written in a way that feels authentic. The characters’ personalities are distinct and the relationships ring true. I thought the ending felt a bit rushed but perhaps that was just because I wanted more about this family and their neighbors.

I had to look up Mikey Likes It ice cream and its Brady Bunch flavor. I love how so much about NYC is shown in this book. It’s a bit of a love letter to New York.

This book made me really hungry. There is a lot of baking & cooking going on. It’s not a vegan friendly story but I’m good at veganizing everything in my head. I appreciated how the story/narration continues as part of the cake recipe included at the very end of the book. It made reading the recipe more fun than if it had been presented only as a recipe.

There is a not detailed enough for me but still fun map near the start of the book and excellent small illustrations at the start of each chapter.

There is a lovely Author’s Note at the end that gives some biographical information about the author, including books she loved as a child and how this story came to fruition. I partly identified with what she had to say and it made me love this book even more than when I was reading the story proper.

I read a Kindle edition. The map would have been more effortless to view with a paper book. I also had access to the audio edition from chapter 10 on.

Recommended for 9-11 year old girls & other readers too, those interested in music, and also cooking, those who love companion animals, those interested in NYC, kids who have nontraditional families and/or schooling or want to learn more about them. This is a great book for independent readers in middle grade and would also make for a great classroom or family read aloud.

3-1/2 stars ( )

A fun read though it seemed to be juggling far too many characters and ideas, and the transitions from one moment to the next were often jarring, like for instance, presumably Bo and her mother discussed moving into the boyfriend’s home yet the reader isn’t privy to that important conversation, so what you at first perceive to be a visit to meet the boyfriend’s family suddenly seemingly out of nowhere you realize oh, wait, Bo and her mom are moving in? There were several transitions like that where the story was in one place and leapt to another without laying enough groundwork to get there.

Bo and her mother move into a blended living situation, because of that there are several adults and several children featured in addition to various neighbors and there’s not nearly a high enough page count to accommodate that many characters. The adults were especially underdeveloped as were most of the relationships between anyone other than Bo and her step-sister Sunday. While I understand it was part of the plot that Bo felt lost in the shuffle of her mother’s new life, the lack of showcasing their bond beyond two or three scenes hurt the emotional resonance of the story, it would have been helpful to see more of how truly close mother and daughter were before this cavalcade of people came into their lives.

Much like the overabundance of characters there was also an overabundance of activities for Bo and her sisters to engage in, leaving little time to really delve into what freeschooling entails, to show Bo partaking in/progressing in her dreaded swimming lessons, and even a big event that the book builds towards ultimately felt like it was cut short with an abrupt ending.

I enjoyed these sisters, particularly Sunday, I just hope if this is a series that the focus is a little tighter in the next book. ( )