Jerusalem Publications
Sunny, funny and eager to please -- that's Tziporah, the new
girl at Bas Melech Pnimah Academy in Spring Falls, New
Jersey. Back at her Cleveland Bais Yaakov, she was the most
popular girl in class, so she has every intention of slipping
right into her familiar role after her family moves to a new
city.
To her chagrin, nothing goes the way she plans. The other
girls are nice enough, but Tziporah can't seem to land the
deep, close friendships she dreams of. That's not to say she
doesn't try. Readers will laugh out loud at all the gaffes
and outright messes Tziporah gets herself into in her
desperate grab for popularity.
What makes her tale even funnier is that it is so true-to-
life. Teenagers will totally identify with Tziporah's fired-
up enthusiasm and `great' ideas that inexplicably boomerang,
while adults will share a chuckle over their own memories of
those awkward teenage years.
CLASS-ified Information is an immensely entertaining,
well-written book for everyone's summer reading list. It is
also fine kosher reading, as not only the girls themselves
but also their adventures and misadventures make for good,
clean fun. What could go wrong with a Chanuka play, a science
project, raising money for the school, a surprise party for a
newly married teacher or the end-of-the-year graduation trip?
Mix in one of Tziporah's bright ideas and you'll find out!
What makes Tziporah's story even more interesting is that it
is the first in a new series of twelve books by accomplished
author M.C. Millman. Each book tells the story of the eighth
grade year at Bas Melech Pnimah Academy from a different
girl's point of view. This intriguing techinque offers
readers the chance to peek into each girl's private thoughts
as she shares her secrets and reasons for behavior that
others may not understand.
The new girl in class introduces all these characters, some
with broad brushstrokes and others in greater depth. There's
Faige, the class tzaddekes; Yaffa, the health food
enthusiast, and Mindy, Rena and Suri, whose names must all be
recited in one breath as they are, of course, a clique in the
all-important society of teen friendships.
The girls Tziporah feels close to are Goldie and Aliza, whom
she has already met in camp and who, she hopes, will ease her
way into the others' affections. But why is Goldie pretending
that Tziporah doesn't exist? And why is Aliza unwilling to
get more personal?
As we hear the story from Tziporah's point of view, many
questions are tantalizingly left unanswered. That only makes
us want to read the books penned by her classmates. Rumor has
it that the second volume in the series is now at the
printer's. By the end of the last book, the author promises,
you'll really know what's going on in class!
