Class Favorite by Taylor Morris

All that Sara Thurman wants is to be popular. Unfortunately for her, disaster after disaster (or as disastrous as middle school can get) comes her way. Sara keeps on getting publicly humiliated, which doesn’t help her goal at all, or so she thinks.

It all starts when she “becomes a woman.” Sara’s mom finds this out and sends Sara flowers. Unfortunately, the flowers reach the wrong destination, Sara’s middle school to be exact, and everyone finds out about Sara’s secret. Sara puts all the blame on her best friend Arlene because Arlene was the only person she told the secret to. Soon, another friendship develops with the new girl Kirstie, who helps Sara create a list of everything that will help Sara become popular.

When I first read the cover of this book, I thought oh no, not another one of these. But I was glad when it turned out that the main character was not one of those popular girls with all their problems, but someone from the opposite end of the spectrum, the girl with few friends who wishes she was more popular. I also did not expect the ending of this novel, but it was better than the ending I expected.

Sara’s character is very believable, and so are her issues dealing with her friends, family, school, and boys. There’s a much drama as there can be in a middle school, but I found that some of Sara’s issues were overdramatized. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this novel, including that popularity is overrated and that people aren’t always who you expect them to be. I liked watching Sara grow and mature, and overall, this book was a good read. I recommend this for middle schoolers, and even if you are older, I think you can still enjoy this.

Rating: 4.0

Review copy from author Taylor Morris