Extreme House Makeover: Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Moving Day by Meg Cabot

Allie Finkle's mom and dad have bought a house--without even asking her if she wanted to move!

"It looks like all of those houses on those TV shows my mom likes to watch called things like Please Come Fix Up My House and My House is Really Old. Won't Somebody Fix It Please!"

Allie Finkle loves her life. She lives in a nice, almost new suburban house (even though the closet is a little too small for her rock collection) across the street from a sort-of best friend Mary Kay (even though she's a little too bossy) and has the best fourth-grade teacher (EVER).

And now her parents say she has to move. Oh, they say the house is bigger, with plenty of room for everyone and that she can walk to Dairy Queen anytime she wants and that she can get a kitten when they are all moved in. But even the kitten doesn't cinch the deal for Allie when she goes for her first walk-through. Inside the rooms seem cold and dark, with grey walls and lots of spiders. And the turret room that is supposed to be hers is the creepiest of all, complete with creaking floorboards. Allie quickly adds a new item to her "Rules for Girls:" "Don't let your family move into a haunted house."

When pleading and arguing fail, Allie stoops to making off with the FOR SALE sign on their house, but her parents are determined that the move go on, leading Allie to post her hardest rule, "YOU CAN'T GO BACK!" Although a tour of her new school helps Allie make a good friend, the last days before the big move are filled with ups and downs. Allie stands up for a turtle which seems destined to become turtle soup at the local Asian restaurant and becomes a celebrity as an animal activist, but her last day at her old school finds her grounded for tossing cupcakes at her farewell party. Sadly, Allie realizes that there are some situations for which she hasn't yet come up with a rule.

Allie Finkle's Rules For Girls: Moving Day, published last month by the best-selling teen fictionista Meg Cabot, introduces a funny and feisty new heroine whose honest musings on the ways of the world will win fans for what looks like a sturdy new 'tween series.