Annie B., Made for TV

On the last day of fifth grade, when her best friend Savannah wins every award, Annie muses, “the only thing I’m best at is being the friend of someone who is always the best at everything.” The engagingly impulsive narrator sells herself short: when it comes to imagination and creative wordplay, Annie has no match. Her passion is writing faux TV commercials, touting devices of her own invention, leading her chipper writer father to dub her a “wrinventor”). Featuring amusing alliteration, the ads that constantly pop into Annie’s head—and out of her mouth—include the “Zippity Zoom,” a time machine that erases mortifying moments (of which she has many). The girl’s fanciful free association unleashes a stream of thoughts and observations—and a mercurial flux of emotions, especially when Savannah becomes besties with another classmate and beats Annie out for the coveted role of announcer in a school production. But Dixon (Maurice the Unbeastly) brings her debut middle grade novel to a reassuring close, as Annie is assigned a role that lets her find her voice, lose her bitterness, and announce perhaps her most useful invention ever: the “Friendship Fixer.” Ages 8–12. [em]Agent: Laura Biagi, Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency. (June) [/em]