by Hilary McKay
ages: 10+
First sentence: “Today I fell asleep in class.”

Things that are still true about the Casson books:
I adore Rose.
They make me utterly and unquestionably happy.
I find them hilarious in a wacky, British sort of way.
Eve is daffy and Bill’s a cad (though much less so in this book, if only because they show up much less).

The basic plot: Indigo likes Saffy’s friend Sarah, and so he finagles a way to sell tickets to the Valentine Dance. He sets Saffy up with Oscar. Saffy and Rose get “lost” on the moor (stranded is more like it) because of Oscar’s lousy car. Oscar and his older brother Alex rescue them and bring them home. Caddy’s waiting there, and she decides Alex is The One (mostly because he’s got permission to go to China to photograph panda bears). Except he’s not Darling Michael, to whom Rose promised not to let Caddy get married. Hence, Rose’s (in)famous wedding destruction at the end of the book.

Things that are different from the previous Casson books:
The chapters alternate between narrators (going, in order: Rose, Indigo, Saffy, Caddy, Rose again). I loved each voice, but I espeically loved that Rose was still omnipresent.
The appendices are really the best part.
I was expecting a huge climax at the church (because I read Forever Rose first), but didn’t get it, but it really didn’t matter. It was still funny.
There was a subplot about Saffy and Sarah not being friends any more becuase of a star balloon, but that was pretty silly (well, of course), and not really worth mentioning. Indigo was pretty awesome, though.

And, yes, I’m going to read Forever Rose again, just so I can put it in it’s proper place. And do a proper “review”.