Ellie McDoodle: New Kid in School by Ruth Mcnally Barshaw

Ellie McDoodle’s life is over. Her parents have made the horrible decision to sell their house and move the family to a new town two hours away. Ellie is forced to leave behind her friends, her school, and her home. She is completely convinced that life will never be same again, and that she will be known as the new girl with no friends forever. Her entire journey is documented in her blank sketchbook, which serves as a journal, sketchbook, and confidant. While life in her new town isn’t perfect in the beginning, she learns that it isn’t so bad once she opens up and gives it a chance.

Ellie McDoodle: New Kid in School by Ruth McNally Barshaw is the perfect companion to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books that are so popular right now. The story is told in the same illustrated novel format, and both series star a new middle schooler. The themes are the same in the two series, and I think middle grade readers will be eating up Ellie McDoodle.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is the second Ellie McDoodle book in print. I plan to share this ARC with my class this week to see if they take off the same way that Jeff Kinney’s books have. I imagine they will be a huge success!