Amber Brown is facing two tough challenges: her recently blended family is in the midst of moving to a new home, and she can't seem to focus on pending high-pressure standardized tests at school. Even though her mom is now remarried, Amber doesn't want to leave the home she and her parents shared. She has always been a person who lets her imagination wander, exploring new tracks; it's a charming and positive characteristic, but it stands in the way of solving complicated word problems on state-mandated tests. Of course, the coming move and her inability to focus are related. She now has to attend Saturday Academy to prepare for those scary tests. That's time she usually gets to spend with her dad, but he's just started dating the new dance teacher at her school, Miss Isobel, yet another complication—and distraction—for Amber. "Miss Isobel is just a little too sparkly for comfort. She makes me want to turn off a light somewhere," Amber thinks. As in previous outings, Amber aptly, capably and satisfyingly explores issues common to kids her age. The challenges she faces are just hard enough to sustain interest, while permitting an anxiety-relieving resolution for her audience. Even though filtered through numerous works and new authors, Amber's voice remains fresh, funny and achingly honest—traits readers love about her. (Fiction. 7-11)

Moving is hard enough for anyone, but Amber struggles with leaving the home where her family lived before her father moved out and her mother remarried. Meanwhile, Dad starts a relationship with her new dance instructor, and a looming standardized test raises concerns about Amber's ability to focus on schoolwork. Still, she navigates through the difficulties with a little help from her friends, family, and teachers. One of the more appealing characters in the relatively bland world of beginning chapter books, Amber manages to hit the sweet spot once again in this lively first-person narrative. Not only does she have flaws but she makes real mistakes, suffers for them, and tries to make amends in ways that are meaningful to others. Her ongoing difficulties in dealing with her weekend father and her stepfather are dealt with honestly. The illustrations, by a newcomer to the series, were not available in the prepublication copy. In their second volume, Coville and Levy continue Danziger's Amber Brown series with wit, style, and intelligence.