From School Library Journal: Grade 2-4 Nine-year-old Isabella Speedwalker-Juarez faces many adjustments now that she is living in her grandmother's mobile home and sharing a room with her two-year-old brother, Dozer. Her mother's hours have been cut at her job, causing additional financial difficulties. In her frustration, the third grader creates a personal motto: I won't share 'cuz it's not fair! To make matters worse, the pool that she has been promised is in jeopardy of being sold after being on layaway for over a year. Isabella is desperate to get the 200 dollars to pay for it but compromises her motto and her earnings after setting up a neighborhood car wash and donating the money to a classmate whose home was destroyed in a tornado. Bold and resourceful, she succeeds in another money-making plan, using her creativity and the help of a classmate to secure her pool. A lesson on friendship and sharing from her handyman neighbor foretells that giving makes you richer. Isabella's spunkiness and determination to get what she wants provide a number of small morals, and, indeed, she grows a great deal. Readers will enjoy the true-to-life school and family situations. Quirky, full-page cartoon illustrations show Isabella and just about everyone else with string-bean necks and limbs. A short chapter book with an important message. Jennifer Cogan, Bucks County Free Library, Doylestown, PA
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