By Lynda Comerford
Reviewed by TFK Kid Reporter: Erin Wiens St. John

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Number of pages: 256

Rissa Bartholomew's Declaration of Independence tells the story of a sixth-grade girl who has just decided to experiment with her autonomy. Over the summer before starting sixth grade, she realizes that her friends have changed. They have become interested in things like the mall, clothes and fashion—none of which interests Rissa. So, she breaks up with the clan of friends that she has hung out with all of her life, realizing that their new personalities do not fit with hers. At the same time, her big sister Mary Ann moves away to college, and Rissa realizes she needs Mary Ann's support more than she knew. To top it all off, Rissa's mother just isn't acting like herself anymore. As all of these hardships hit her, Rissa starts to doubt whether becoming independent is a good idea. Then, middle school starts. Unlike what she had imagined, everybody seems to have friends already. Only the new girl from Vermont, Violet, doesn't have a friend, and she only seems to care about the historical period of the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, Rissa decides to try to befriend this girl.

Just when it seems that things will take a turn for the better, another boy's Halloween costume and a mean joke played by her ex-friends come together to make a terrible accident. By the time that November arrives, Rissa discovers that her principal thinks that she is untrustworthy and that Violet might leave her too. Is Rissa Bartholomew's independent impetus sustainable, or will it prove impossible?

I found the characters to be believable in some ways and not quite as believable in other ways. Rissa, for example, struggles with the question that all adolescents face: emerging identity. Throughout the book, Rissa asks, "Who am I? If I don't belong to this group, then which?"

There are some ways, however, in which the characters do not have a believable ring. I wonder if many middle schoolers have the courage to leave their friends or to restore relationships in the way that Rissa does. Perhaps Comerford aimed to make Rissa a confident role model to other girls as much as a believable character.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate this book a 7. Comerford has written a beautiful story with an important theme of independence for teen girls. However, many of the problems Rissa faces relate to her choice to be independent. If I could improve this book, I would show some of the more positive outcomes of being independent, because I think that there are more of them than Comerford portrays. On a positive note, I would especially recommend Rissa's story to sixth-grade girls who need some support in finding their niche in middle school or feel that their friends are not people who they want to hang out with. Lynda Comerford's Rissa Bartholomew's Declaration of Independence is a book sure to draw in young girls around the nation.