Secret Wishes

Her role as a cheerleader isn't turning out the way Margo had dreamed. She has little time to spend with her group of old friends, and she doesn't have much in common with the other cheerleaders. Additionally, she is contantly duped by the manipulative schemes of Brandy, an inexplicably malicious fellow cheerleader. But Margo's real troubles begin when Miss Cole, the cheerleaders' ambitious coach, pressures the team to win the state championships. Like all the girls, Margo is eager to please Miss Cole; when the coach urges the squad to help one another with their studies, Margo reluctantly allows some of the girls to copy her homework. But when the others ask her to steal an important math test, Margo realizes that she must stand up for what is righteven if it means quitting the squad. Margo and her non-cheerleading friends are a fairly agreeable bunch. But because so much of the plot revolves around the contrived and insufficiently motivated actions of Brandy and Miss Cole, this novel fails to convince. Ages 8-12. (Feb.)