Joella Peterson (Children's Literature)
Allie Finkle is a fourth grader who enjoys subjects like science and math--they have specific rules to follow in order to get a correct answer or result. Other subjects such as English and…well…friendship are hard because there are not any set rules to make a good English paper or the perfect friend. That is why Allie has decided to come up with a book of rules for girls (such as “don’t stick a spatula down your best friend’s throat” or “don’t put your cat in a suitcase”). If Allie writes down the rules, then she might be able to figure out how to be a good friend. The only problem is that her parents have decided that their family is moving. Now Allie has to juggle trying to sabotage the move (i.e. stopping the sale of their house) and try to keep up with her best friend, who hates her guts (she did stick the spatula down her throat). Allie’s adventures are both humorous and entertaining. Elementary school readers will love Allie’s quirky thought process as she navigates the world of best friends and neighborhood animal rights. With the first glance of Allie on the cover (who happens to look like a ten-year-old Mary Kate/Ashley Olsen), readers will fall in love with this spunky character. 2008, Scholastic, $15.99. Ages 7 to 12.

LaTasha M. Hunter (Children's Literature)
Rules are Allie Finkle’s best friends, and rule number 1 is “Don’t stick a spatula down your best friend’s throat.” Thus begins the feisty tale of Allie Finkle, the Finkle family, and the fourth grade classes at Walnut Knoll and Pine Heights Elementary schools. Horrified that her parents are planning a move, Allie is even more dismayed to find out that the new house is very scary looking, even if it is right around the corner from a Dairy Queen and next door to a really cool girl named Ericka who does not whine and cry like Allie’s current best friend, Mary Kay. Not only scary looking, the new house is also haunted! Allie definitely does not want to move, despite the fact that her parents have promised her a kitten if she agrees to the move and does not cause any trouble. Once she sees that the new school and her teacher are really cool, and Ericka and her friends Sophie and Caroline play a fun game called “Queens,” suddenly the move does not seem so bad. This book is a story of rules, friendship, handling life’s challenges, and making the best of any situation. There is also a healthy dose of animal rights action included in the plot. This series is sure to be as big of a hit as the “Princess Diaries” series. Cabot realistically depicts the actions of young girls, not attempting to patch up the failing relationships between Allie and her disgruntled friends she leaves behind at Walnut Knolls Elementary. Allie’s last day of school at Walnut Knolls ends with an old-fashioned, fun food fight as real as the situation Allie finds herself in. 2008, Scholastic Press, $15.99. Ages 9 to 12.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2008 (Vol. 76, No. 1))
Like every other kid lately, nine-year-old Allie Finkle is developing her list of rules for friendships, school situations, family and overall life. Dos and don'ts for any newly minted tween can get pretty complicated when an already unsettling relationship with a so-called best friend is augmented by one's parents' decision to sell their comfortable suburban dwelling and move to an un-renovated Victorian-style, 100-year-old gloomy and possibly haunted house in the city. And, what about the new (really old and crowded) school and a fourth grade filled with unfriendly faces? Allie is stressed but decides to take charge by hatching a scheme to prevent the sale of her suburban house and thus, the move. Cabot's endearing, funny and clever protagonist will have readers simultaneously chuckling and commiserating as succeeding chapters introduce individual "rules" for Allie to contemplate and accept. Lessons on friendship and fickleness, sneaky behavior, lying, animal cruelty and theft (although paying for a "rescued" pet turtle that was never for sale may raise some eyebrows) merge to create a humorous and heartwarming story. Allie's first-person voice is completely believable with just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek wit. Despite the now-overdone rules concept, readers will eagerly await Allie's next installment in her new home, school and neighborhood. 2008, Scholastic, 240p, $15.99. Category: Fiction. Ages 8 to 11. © 2008 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Debra Snyder (Kutztown University Book Review, Spring 2009)
Nine-year-old Allie Finkle is sure that the only way she can remember all of the rules is to write them in a secret book. Allie’s world gets turned upside down when her parents announce they are moving to a big, old Victorian house. When the family gets a tour of the house, it is full of dust and spiders and Allie is sure that there are Zombie hands in the attic. Allie does many unusual things caused by her dislike of the move to a new house, school and friends. She steals the snapping turtle from a Chinese restaurant to protect it from being used in a soup. Allie starts a food fight on the final day at her old school using the store bought cupcakes her mother has given her. The story is funny and fast moving. I think any girl in grades 3 – 6 would be able to picture themselves doing these stunts to avoid moving. (Allie Finkle’s Rules For Girls Series #1) Category: Fiction. 2008, Scholastic, $15.99. Ages 8 to 11.

Daniel R. Beach (Library Media Connection, September 2008)
Fans of Junie B., Judy Moody, Ramona, and Clementine take note. Allie is a fourth grader who writes down her rules to make life easier. When Allie's parents announce that the family will be moving soon, Allie is determined to prevent the move. Upper grade girls will identify with Allie's frustrations caused by hypersensitive friends and find the bickering, cattiness, and whining all too real. Nevertheless, the story contains humorous moments. While Allie is an interesting character and the story ends satisfactorily, she is not as memorable as the series characters mentioned above. Allie needs more than a list of rules to pull her life together. Hopefully successive books will broaden her horizons and make her more memorable. Additional Selection. 2008, Scholastic, 240pp., $15.99 hc.. Ages 9 to 12.

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, March 2008 (Vol. 61, No. 7))
Nine-year-old Allie wants to make sure she learns from the wisdom she encounters and the lessons experience teaches her, so she writes down her rules of life, ranging from “Don’t stick a spatula down your best friend’s throat” to “You’re not supposed to hate people, especially grown up people.” That last lesson is currently an important one, since Allie’s parents have decided it’s time to move house, and Allie isn’t exactly on board. True, she’s not that grieved at trading in her lachrymose and traitorous friend Mary Kay for what look like cool new friends at a cool new school, but she’s sure that their new house, a spooky old Victorian, has a killer zombie hand in its attic (Allie’s uncle secretly lets her watch horror movies), and she’s ultimately just indignant that she’s being relocated without any say in the matter. Usually a snarky narration like Allie’s would partner with a snappy pace, but events move along with surprising slowness here, and there’s too much focus on Allie’s dislike for her ostensible friends at her old school, which sours the narrative. Allie’s arrogance is age-appropriate and often funny, though, and the book is subtle about her masking her essential resistance to change with more acceptable and seemingly sophisticated objections to relocation; there’s also some reassuring implications about the possibility that a move can, in fact, be a good thing (it’s clear that Allie’s been stuck in a real rut with Mary Kay and will benefit from finally finding friends of like minds and tastes). Offer this to Jacqueline Wilson fans, or to those longing after their older sisters’ titles in the Cabot oeuvre (Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls) Review Code: Ad -- Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2008, Scholastic, 240p; Reviewed from galleys, $15.99. Grades 4-6.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2008)
Nine-year-old Allie Finkle keeps a list of rules; she likes their predictability. But sometimes knowing the rules doesn't help--for example, when your best friend cries too much and when your parents decide to leave your nice, normal house to fix up an old, spooky Victorian across town. A breezy writing style and spirited leading lady help buoy the story. (Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls series). Category: Intermediate Fiction. 2008, Scholastic, 232pp, $15.99 (hb). Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 3: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration.