Pretty Is

Pretty Is by Elizabeth Holmes
Rating: 4 stars

Erin is a fifth grader who will be entering middle school the next year. But there's one problem. Her older sister Monica is already in middle school and is a main target for a lot of teasing. Monica is really dorky. She wears baggy clothes and never shaves her legs. Plus she never really even talks to anyone. Erin is dreading the fact that everyone is going to know that the dorky girl is her older sister. And it doesn't help that her friend Kayla is an extremely rude girl who's older sister Claire teases Monica the most. And deep down Erin feels that a part of her is just like Monica and that of course terrifies her.

Shortly before the school year ends Kayla starts ignoring Erin. Erin automatically thinks it's because of Monica. But she makes a new friend in Hannah. Hannah is a wildly outgoing girl who is always thinking of crazy things to do. And soon she has a way for Erin to get back at Kayla, which involves scissors and Kayla's long beautiful blonde hair. Well Erin does it and gets away with it until Monica says something about Erin sneaking out right in front of their mother. Erin is caught and has to go apologize to Kayla and give up practically all the money she has to her parents to pay to get Kayla's hair fixed up.

During all this madness Monica finds an interest in something that's actually not dorky. She starts shooting hoops at the house next door almost everyday. Erin sits and watches her day after day. She has nothing better to do because Hannah is off with her family on vacation. Plus Erin is grounded anyway. She still thinks that Monica is really dorky and is still embarrassed to be seen with her.

During the final month of Summer Erin and Monica are sent off to the week long church camp that they attend most every year. While there Erin tries to make sure that no one realizes that Monica is her sister. But she ends up failing when they have to stay for another week because her mom is going into a surgery that got pushed back a few days that they didn't even know about. Monica then ends up staying in Erin's cabin. And over the next few days Erin realizes that yes her sister is dorky but there really isn't much she can do about it. Plus some of the girls in the camp even think that Monica's knitting is pretty cool.

When they get back from camp will Erin still be friends with Hannah and stop hating her sister because she's such a dork or will everything just be the same as it was before they left for camp?

This was a pretty good read. I finished it in one day so it was a pretty fast read. The story itself was good. I could totally see a younger sister thinking this about her older sister. I've never really thought of sisters disliking their older sisters before. But it definitely makes sense. The ending was a bit predictable but it didn't make the book any less good. It had your typical characters; the social outcast, the popular girls, the girl that's new to the school. Overall I'd recommend this book to someone that's looking for a light summery read.