Review: Karma Bites by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 348 pages
Publisher: Sandpiper (August 23, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 054736301X
ISBN-13: 978-0547363011

Life seems to have it in for Franny Flanders.

Her best friends aren’t speaking, her parents just divorced, and her hippie grandmother has moved in. The only karma Franny’s got is bad karma.

Then Franny gets her hands on a box of magic recipes that could fix all of her problems. It could even change the world! Finally, life is looking up.

But Franny is about to learn that magic and karma aren’t to be played with. When you mess with the universe, it can bite back in unexpected ways.

Ouch!

Karma Bites was a really cute book for middle grade girls, about a girl who tries to do the right thing, but in all the wrong ways. It was so entertaining to read about Franny, even as you can see that her choices are going to make her entire world spiral out of control. But, even though Franny makes some stupid decisions, you can tell that she just wants what's best for her friends, her school, and the world in general.


Unfortunately, Franny seemed like the only one with half a brain in the whole book! She was a sweet, witty, funny girl in a sea of total morons. I felt so sorry for Franny, having to deal with the stupidity and/or cruelty of the friends and other schoolmates around her. Her only ally was her New-Age Grandma. "Franny's Granny" was so funny! And she was a great friend and grandma to Franny.


Karma Bites is full of magical recipes (like the "Sensually Sexy Smoothie"), humorous chapter names (like "Justin Timberlake knows my name"), words of the day, Peaks, Geeks, Blogs, a Buddhist Monk, and a Moose. If you're a Middle Grade girl who likes Chick Lit, this book is for you!



Check out the Karma Bites website here!



Parents should know: This book contains a few mentions of kissing/making out, and talks about the occult and magic. For more details go to Karma Bites on Parental Book Reviews.

Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing this book for review!