The Rule of Threes

March 15, 2021
Twelve-year-old Maggie's contented life is disrupted. Sure, only child Maggie's parents insist they all eat dinner together at the table, and they are big on engaging her in dinner conversation, but though she complains a bit, she is secretly happy that they are so persistent about communicating with her. And she is glad she doesn't have best friend Olive's life, with a chaotic little brother, or other BFF Rachel's situation, with family members who eat separately in front of various screens. While Maggie is nervous about being in middle school, she knows her parents are always there for her. Plus, she has her beloved grandmother, who has taught her about interior design--something Maggie adores and shares with her BFFs. But everything starts to unravel when a previously unknown 13-year-old half brother from an affair her father had shows up and, on top of that, Maggie's grandmother shows signs of Alzheimer's. While the storyline admirably tackles difficult issues with compassion and evenhandedness, the writing overall feels more dutiful than original. Many scenes seem contrived to lead up to a neatly wrapped message that is insistently spelled out instead of being presented for readers to discover for themselves. The overarching interior design metaphor stretches itself thin in Maggie's first-person-narration revelations. Characters are White by default. A competent, if somewhat belabored take on sensitive family issues. (Fiction. 9-12)

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April 1, 2021
Grades 4-7 Maggie likes rules. As a budding interior designer, she is tuned in to how rules, particularly the rule of threes, create effective design, and she has extended that rule to her life. She and her parents are a solid group of three, and she and her best friends, Rachel and Olive, are the three members of her design club, Best Foot Forward. Things change when a half brother she knew nothing about comes to stay, and her beloved grandmother starts to become more affected by her Alzheimer's disease. Also, as the three friends enter middle school, Rachel wants to be called "Rakell" and seems to be drifting away. Maggie feels as if the school's design contest is the only thing that will redeem her life, and it does, although not in the way she expects. Campbell portrays Maggie's complex troubles sympathetically while still pushing back on her insecure insularity through characterization, and gradually, Maggie grows to become more open to change and empathy. Her problems are a lot for a sixth-grader to handle, which makes her personal victory more meaningful.

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April 5, 2021
Twelve-year-old Maggie believes that “three is perfect”: her immediate family has three members, as does “the BFFs,” the interior design company that Maggie created with best friends Rachel and Olive. But things have felt weird since the beginning of sixth grade. Rachel, who wants to be known as Rakell, suddenly bows out of their design projects, including the school-wide decorating competition that Maggie is determined to win. And Maggie’s beloved grandmother, who is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, sometimes doesn’t recognize her. The girl’s carefully organized life is thrown into further disarray with the arrival of Tony, her 13-year-old half brother, who is staying with them while his mother is in rehab. Tony’s existence is a shock to Maggie, and though she initially finds him intrusive, the two slowly become friends. Threaded with relevant design precepts, Campbell’s (Adrian Simcox Does Not Have a Horse) engaging tale of redefining family is anchored by occasionally prickly Maggie’s voice as she learns to loosen her own rules and find harmony in the imperfect. Ages 10–16. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

May 1, 2021
Maggie has high hopes for sixth grade, especially when the principal announces a decorating contest as part of the school's spirit week. As an avid interior designer who has learned all the rules of decoration -- and persuaded her two best friends Olive and Rachel to follow her lead in their tween-run design company -- Maggie is sure she will win. But Rachel, who now demands to be called Ra-kell, is spending more time with the cheerleaders than with Maggie. Maggie's beloved grandmother is diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and a new member of the family arrives: Tony, her father's son from a previous relationship, who moves in when his mother goes to rehab. Maggie struggles with the changing relationships in her life and the challenge of not always being the one in charge, but a dramatic moment with Tony's mother gives her a chance to define a new role and new boundaries for herself. Campbell effectively highlights the small details that make the family feel authentic -- for instance, Maggie notices her parents always take the same good cop/bad cop approach when she's in trouble -- and allows the titular rule (which identifies the elements of a good design) to shape the story without being an overwhelming metaphor. Issues of drug abuse are handled in an age-appropriate way, and the balance of high- and low-stakes problems in Maggie's world is well done. Sarah Rettger

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2021
Maggie has high hopes for sixth grade, especially when the principal announces a decorating contest as part of the school's spirit week. As an avid interior designer who has learned all the rules of decoration -- and persuaded her two best friends Olive and Rachel to follow her lead in their tween-run design company -- Maggie is sure she will win. But Rachel, who now demands to be called Ra-kell, is spending more time with the cheerleaders than with Maggie. Maggie's beloved grandmother is diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and a new member of the family arrives: Tony, her father's son from a previous relationship, who moves in when his mother goes to rehab. Maggie struggles with the changing relationships in her life and the challenge of not always being the one in charge, but a dramatic moment with Tony's mother gives her a chance to define a new role and new boundaries for herself. Campbell effectively highlights the small details that make the family feel authentic -- for instance, Maggie notices her parents always take the same good cop/bad cop approach when she's in trouble -- and allows the titular rule (which identifies the elements of a good design) to shape the story without being an overwhelming metaphor. Issues of drug abuse are handled in an age-appropriate way, and the balance of high- and low-stakes problems in Maggie's world is well done.

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)