CINDERELLA SMITH

Cinderella Smith cannot keep track of her shoes. It doesn’t seem to matter the type or the brand—she is always searching for missing footwear. The new school year has meant another loss too. Former pals Rosemary W. and Rosemary T. have become such close friends that they have squeezed Cinderella out of their tight friendship. The Rosemarys took summer dance class together, got their ears pierced, discovered boys and cell phones and are on their way to becoming the manipulative mean girls of their class. It looks like old friend and neighbor Charlie Prince might be Cinderella’s only buddy. Enter Erin, the new confident girl in the class. She needs Cinderella’s help figuring out her new stepfamily, and she instantly and correctly sizes up the Rosemarys. Together, these new friends figure out the mystery of stepsisters, missing shoes and the joys of tap dancing. Cinderella has a penchant for acting without thinking, causing her mother to arch her eyebrow in disappointment and judgment. Endearingly, though, Cinderella always tries to do the right thing. Though the first-person narration sounds a little too close to the voice of Sara Pennypacker’s Clementine, the richness of this new friendship and the gentle resolution will make readers hope for another installment. (Fiction. 8-11)