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AS IF BEING 12 3/4 ISN'T BAD ENOUGH, MY MOTHER IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT! Donna Gephart Hardcover | Delacorte Books for Young Readers | 978-0-385-73481-3 (0-385-73481-6) | February 2008 | $15.99 | Ages 8-12 Hardcover Library Binding | Delacorte Books for Young Readers | 978-0-385-90479-7 (0-385-90479-7) | February 2008 | $18.99 | Ages 8-12

The average “tweenager” usually has enough to worry about just navigating the social and academic issues of middle school. Vanessa Rothrock has a few more concerns than most. First of all, Vanessa’s mother is the governor and she’s decided to run for President of the United States. Living in the Governor’s mansion has a few advantages, but Vanessa now has a bodyguard who follows her around everywhere. (He even waits for her just outside the school bathroom!) Vanessa desperately misses her father who died in a plane crash and her mom is always away on the campaign trail. She has hopes of going to the National Spelling Bee, so she’s constantly spelling words in her head (c-o-n-s-t-a-n-t-l-y). As if all that wasn’t enough, she’s been getting mysterious notes in her locker. Some of them seem to be from a secret admirer, but then she starts getting threatening ones. Someone does NOT want her mother to run for president. The writer wants Vanessa to stop her mom without telling anyone about the notes. Secretly, she doesn’t want her mom to run anymore either, but she’s afraid for her life and her mom’s. Should she tell someone? Who should she tell? She doesn’t know what to do! Some things just aren’t spelled out so easily.

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Jill Webb, Children's Librarian, Farmington Community Library, Farmington, Michigan

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