Cassidy's Guide to Everyday Etiquette (and Obfuscation)

by Sue Stauffacher

Overview

Eleven-year-old Cassidy has just inherited a gift from her late great-grandmother. Unfortunately, that “gift” turns out to be a summer trapped in etiquette school. What good are manners, anyway, for a girl who dreams of living life on the road as a hobo—er, “knight of the road”?
 
As if trying to remember to keep her elbows off the table isn’t bad enough, Cassidy’s best friend, Jack, suddenly seems more interested in doing chores for the new teenage girl who’s moved in next door than in fishing with Cassidy down by the river. Not even her classic epic pranks seem to be saving Cassidy from having her worst summer ever. It’s time to face facts: growing up stinks.
 
Veteran middle-grade author Sue Stauffacher returns with a cranky, pranky, laugh-out-loud tomboy heroine who might just learn the hard way that manners do matter, and that people can change.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780375830976
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	06/09/2015
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 5.50(h) x 1.20(d)
Lexile:	730L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

SUE STAUFFACHER has been etiquette-challenged for most of her life, but her family lets her eat with them, anyway. She is the author of Harry Sue, Donuthead, and Donutheart, as well as the Animal Rescue Team series, among other books. Sue is also a frequent visitor to schools as a speaker and literacy consultant, drawing on two decades of experience as a journalist, educator, and program administrator. To learn more about her, please visit SueStauffacher.com.

Editorial Reviews

05/25/2015
Eleven-year-old Cassidy Corcoran couldn’t be more upset that her great-grandmother’s dying wish was that she attend a five-week etiquette course, especially since her sister gets to go to forensic camp. Cassidy’s dream, rather, is to become a hobo, riding the rails (she’s even renamed herself “Calamity Cassidy”). During the etiquette course, Miss Melton-Mowry’s lessons in posture, table manners, and proper conversation alternately annoy and bore Cassidy. What’s worse, ever since a young beauty pageant contestant moved in next door, Cassidy’s best friend Jack seems more interested in being the girl’s handyman than being Cassidy’s partner in crime. But Cassidy makes some unlikely friends in etiquette class, including Officer Weston, an “uncivilized clod” of a policeman, and enemy-turned-ally Delton Bean. While Stauffacher’s (the Animal Rescue Team series) plot drags in the middle, Cassidy’s flair for the dramatic (“I had no idea there was a word for the very thing I’m genius at!” Cassidy thinks after learning the meaning of “obfuscate”) makes for many amusing moments along the way. Ages 8–12. Agent: Wendy Schmalz, Wendy Schmalz Literary Agency. (June)

Publishers Weekly

03/01/2015
Gr 4–6—Eleven-year-old Cassidy wants nothing more than to be a Knight of the Road, and she has a lazy summer of fishing and pulling pranks planned as preparation—until her great-grandmother's will stipulates she must take etiquette lessons. Not only is Cassidy sorely lacking in social graces, she's prone to calamity; the outlook for learning manners is not so good. On top of everything else, a new oddness between Cassidy and her best friend, Jack, isn't making the summer any easier. Stauffacher spins a yarn of the trials of growing up in both mind and body. While the ending may feel a bit pat given Cassidy's propensity for mayhem, her distinct personality makes up for any unevenness in plot. It is unfortunate, however, that Cassidy makes cringe-worthy references throughout her narration—including one truly problematic mention, ostensibly meant to be humorous, of her "little palsy" when she finds herself near doors with bells. These off-color asides pop up repeatedly in what would otherwise be a decent coming-of-age story for the middle grade set. VERDICT Libraries would be better served stocking titles with protagonists who manage to be mischievous without using disrespectful language.—Amy Koester, Skokie Public Library, IL

School Library Journal

2015-03-17
To her horror, an 11-year-old tomboy prankster is forced to take an etiquette class and learn the rules of polite society. Girls who want to be "something wacko" like "a princess or a movie star" might find the rules of etiquette useful, but Cassidy, Stauffacher's irrepressible, obnoxious, but still strongly sympathetic heroine, has a more original goal: she longs to be a hobo. And she's not even the most eccentric character in Stauffacher's quirky new comedy with a message. Cassidy's 15-year-old sister, Magda, is fascinated with decomposition—a great present for her would be a dead rodent—and Cassidy's best friend, Jack, wants to be a stuntman. Although Stauffacher keeps the tone light and humorous in this first-person novel, personal growth is still undeniably painful. In particular, Cassidy, on the cusp of adolescence, has to deal with how the changes in her and Jack's bodies affect their feelings and behavior. Sadly, after the players and their conflicts are laid out, the book seems to get stuck; the etiquette lessons are not as interminable as they feel to Cassidy, but they don't have much momentum either. When it comes, the happy ending, though welcome, is a tad hard to buy psychologically. This intermittently funny book offers likable characters, but it lacks Stauffacher's customary expert touch. (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews