Trying to fit in despite having a loud, embarrassing best friend, eleven-year-old Talia becomes a commentator on her middle school's closed-circuit television program and turns the tables on her mother, a talk show host who has been revealing Talia's most humiliating experiences for years. ( )

Talia's mom is the host of a morning talk show and, much to Talia's embarrassment, she likes to share little anecdotes from when Talia was younger. Like when she threw up on her piano teacher during her recital. Or when she stuffed a crayon up her nose and had to go to the emergency room. Talia is NOT happy about having to start middle school when all her classmates know these tidbits. Which is why she agrees to do a weekly commentary on her school's morning news broadcast. Turnabout is fair play, right? And there are plenty of embarrassing stories that Talia can tell about her mom...

This is a great book about starting middle school, changing friendships, and being caught in the middle of, well, everything. As I read it I kept having flashbacks to my own middle school experience. It can be rough! Some of Talia's friends are suddenly interested in clothes and being popular and perfect and Talia's caught in the middle. The pink cover and humorous premise will get tween girls to pick it up and the story has a lot of heart. ( )