Reviewed by hoopsielv for TeensReadToo.com

Callie has started middle school and it's turning out to be an interesting year for her. She comes from a family of seven children, including siblings Andromeda and Melpomene, and is considered to be a bit "odd" by her classmates.

She doesn't care, though; she's got her best friend, Alyce, and her list of rules to help her get by. She creates her list of rules about life based on what she herself thinks is true.

However, Callie soon learns that rules can be frustrating and confusing. She doesn't agree with all of them, especially the one that's going to change Halloween in her town.

Some citizens feel that the holiday has taken on a bad meaning and want to create a fall festival theme instead. Callie's family loves Halloween and make plans for it all year long.

Can Callie find the courage to speak up and justify her rules without compromising her true self? Does it really matter what others think of her?

This is a very enjoyable book about being accepted no matter what our differences are. Callie is a strong, independent young woman who tries not to let others influence her. I highly recommend this book! ( )

I really related to this book. I see new students enter middle school every year. I watch them try to figure out what middle school is all about. Many of them get so overwhelmed they just burst into tears. I have never had any like Callie. Call gets to school and realizes that things are very different from what she is used to. She doesn’t want to mess up again so she decides to write down all of the rules. When Halloween is replaced by the Autumn Fest Callie is upset. What really upsets her is that the councils seems to keep changing the rules so they don’t have to listen to any protests. This is where Callie says enough is enough and decides to come up with her own rules. I really enjoyed this book. I was one of those funny, lite reads that you can sit and giggle with (okay so maybe that is just me and maybe that is why my students kept looking at me laughing). This is another one of those books I borrowed from my local library but will soon be a purchase to be placed on my shelves. This would make a great read aloud at the beginning of the year. I would recommend it to all of my students ( )