1. Best Friends and Drama Queens: This was really enjoyable as it was relatable. the new girl, Cheyenne seems super cool and everyone wants to befriend her including Allie and her group. Her stories about Canada (ah the days when you were young and Canada seemed as far away as Europe) and latest fashion make her awe-inspiring and she enjoys the power she weilds over he other girls. She chooses who’s cool and who isn’t and sets Allie in her sights as an immature baby for not wanting a boyfriend yet. I enjoyed the message Cabot sends in learning to stand up for yourself and not bowing to peer pressure as Allie finds comfort in her real friends against Cheyenne’s nastiness.

2. Stage Fright: This gets second place primarily because I love theatre so I enjoyed Allie and her friends working hard on their auditions and having fun with costumes and stuff. What’s not so fun is that Allie gets the part of the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz while her friend gets the part of Dorothy. It’s well done in illustrating the problems of jealousy on stage as well as the diva attitude Sophie gains when she gets the part in comparison to Allie who learns to embrace her wicked role.

3. Glitter Girls and the Great Fake Out: What to do when you have the choice between an awesome birthday party hosted by your ex-friend or supporting your best friend’s sister at a football game? Cuz Allie’s only a third grader she chooses the selfish, more exciting choice but quickly comes to regret when she remembers why these are her ex-friends especially as they haven’t forgiven her for leaving. The party turns to a nightmare but it was good to see Allie make up for her mistakes and learn her lesson.

4. The New Girl: A cute story of Allie learning to fit in her new school with the aid of her neighbor and new BFF, Erika, she quickly gains a whole group of BFFs. The only issue is the aggressive and surly Rosemary. There’s a whole message about not judging a book by its cover and it’s well-done to see Allie and Rosemary bond, the latter getting her first real friends outside her older brothers. But it doesn’t have any of the special events or memorability as the others.

5. Moving Day: Ah the first book in the series where Allie finds out who her real friends are when she gets the news she’s moving. She’s upset about it but Cabot does an excellent job illustrating why her current friends are awful and how she should take the chance to start over. It’s only ranked so low because as the first, it doesn’t have the important supporting characters that make up Allie’s friend group later on and there’s animal abuse-ish.

6. Blast from the Past: The final book does a good job in tying up loose ends and leaving Allie in a better place than where she began but I truly dislike her ex-friends. Which is unfortunate as her old school and current class are sharing a field trip to a colonial village. Worse is when they team up with Cheyenne. They’re just nasty little kids and even though Allie triumphs in the end, their presence is so mean and I don’t like them.