Eleven Cassidy gets sent to etiquette school to rub off some of her rough edges. The plotline of a troubled kid who gets sent to class to refine her sounds like the premise of a dozen Disney movies, but there are three problems with this story in my opinion. First, it's very tough to root for bratty Cassidy and second, there isn't a real payoff at the end, and third, it is slow moving and in my opinion is downright boring at times.
Cassidy's Guide to Everyday Etiquette (and Obfuscation)
by Sue Stauffacher
Knopf Books for Young Readers
June 2015
Since I'm not the target audience for this book, after I was done with it, I decided to give it to my daughter (11 years old - so right in the target demo) to see what she thought. Here's what she said, "I didn't really like this book a whole lot. I think it was very dragged out, and it had a lot more details than necessary. I liked the way the plot was laid out, but towards the end of the book or kinda got boring. I was very happy with how the characters where created, because characters are supposed to be detailed, I think they turned out very well. This book is definitely one for around the ages of 13-14 years due to some of the language. ("Big words"). This book is more for people who have a very high reading level, like they read the Harry Potter books and things like that. I think I would've enjoyed the book a whole lot more if it was just a little more straight forward. Overall I enjoyed it, but I think it's not really normally the type of book I would like to read."
My final thoughts: Cassidy and her antics are definitely in the love or hate category. How she acts, whether we root for her or even like her is really dependent on the reader. I didn't. My daughter kinda did. We both thought it was boring at times and neither of us really liked the book. With so many really good books out there I find this one hard to recommend.
