Camille McPhee is eleven years old and unlucky. Her best friend moved to Japan, her cat is lost, she is tormented by bullies, and as the title suggests- she slips and falls under her school bus. Although she’s not badly hurt, Camille slinks back home and takes a day off of school. Middle school is not as much fun without her best friend. So, she worries- about not getting hearing anything from her best friend, about her parents not getting along, and about lost cat Checkers. At school, Camille decides to be a loner despite friendship attempts from her neighbor Polly. Even though she has determined that her life is not very fun, and quite unfair she trudges on enduring her parents trial separation, being called ‘soccerball head’ by school bullies, and toting her cooler full of food to stave off hypoglycemic attacks. Her mother calls her hopeful, but Camille is merely biding her time. The story is full of humor, mostly at Camille’s expense, but sometimes at the expense of others leading Camille to the conclusion that life is not as easy for everyone else as she thinks. Even though some of the events experienced by Camille are quite heavy for the middle school set, they are dealt with straight forward in an unflinchingly honest way relieving them of their weight. I would highly recommend this selection to a tween who is having a bad day- reading about other people’s problems always makes me feel ten times better.
Tracy, K. (2009). Camille McPhee fell under the bus. New York: Delacorte Press. 293 pages. ISBN: 978-0-385-73687-9.
Ages 9-12.
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