I got serious Junie B. Jones vibes with this beginning chapter book. Izzy is a high energy, sometimes exasperating, character. She sometimes annoys her friends, but when she has a new puppy she does learn some care and responsibility. I did like parts of the story but the language and writing occasionally felt stilted. I wish Izzy had been a bit more charming. She is supposed to be a child and sometimes unlikable but I got to a point where she just annoyed me. I do think there is appeal to children and they would be able to relate to Izzy. I also appreciate how open Izzy and her Mom was about Izzy's adoption. It felt very real and then the same feelings are introduced when Izzy adopts a puppy as well.

Thanks for letting me read this book! This is a quirky story that I feel like children will relate to. There need to be more stories like this to show children that all different people are special.

First of all, surprise! The book is a full-fledged book! Yes, I am going bonkers here as I had expected something else from this book when I first picked it up.
Nevertheless I was still happy that the book turned out to be as it is.

The illustrations are the highlights of the book. But I said this to myself when I started reading the first page that there's something off about the writing as well as the characters.

My problem with the writing is that it seems a bit too random for such a story description. The child characters seem like something made up by adults for the sake of telling stories to kids.

Yes, I expected to love the characters (who doesn't love children real or fictional?) but I seriously didn't like these characters. I have so many issues with the character representation.


I really do not like the story at all.
I don't want to rant so I am stopping my thoughts on the book here.
Seriously I don't understand why the first half of the book is just plain squealing of girls and adults alike. The second half of the book is better I would say. Yes, the real story starts there. The book ends well. But the first half of the book did well in making the reader in me angry. Yes, strong word reaction for a children's book, really? Yes.
Thanks #NetGalley for the book.