Amber Brown Is Tickled Pink by Bruce Coville and Elzabeth Levy

Amber Brown is experiencing some big changes in her life, as she continues to cope with her parents' divorce and spending time with each of them separately. Her mom and her boyfriend, Max, are planning their wedding and the three of them will be moving to a new house after the wedding, leaving the house where Amber has grown up.

Although Amber didn't like Max in the beginning,  he has grown on her. He laughs at her jokes, coaches her bowling team and is an all-around nice guy. She is also looking forward to the wedding, which she realizes is supposed to be a big party. She has invited her closest friends from school and her best friend, Justin, who moved away in one of the earlier books, will be coming with his family. But Amber's mother wants a small wedding at city hall to save money and Amber's big plans are looking doubtful.

Amber comes up with a creative solution that is also economical and saves the wedding. It involves an unpopular classmate of Amber's, who to her surprise, turns out to be much nicer than she ever thought.

Amber feels badly when she has fun with Mom and Max and her father is not part of her happiness. She feels badly when she has fun with her dad and her mother is not part of the good time. She also resents it when either of her parents saying anything negative about the other.

I was a big fan of the Amber Brown books and I think that Coville and Levy have done an excellent job of capturing her voice. Their portrayal of a child dealing with her family dynamics, her classmates and the stress any family experiences when planning a wedding are very realistic.   2012

R. Rauch