The Charming Life of Izzy Malone

by Jenny Lundquist

Izzy Malone, a spunky girl who wants to be part of an elite rowing club, must first attend a very unique charm school in this first novel of a brand-new duology.

Izzy Malone isn’t your typical sixth grader. The stars are her only friends, and after only a month of middle school she’s already set the record for the most trips to the Principal’s office.

The only place Izzy feels at peace is when she’s on the open water, and more than anything else, she wants to become a member of the Dandelion Paddlers, her school’s competitive rowing club. When Izzy’s antics land her in hot water, her parents enroll her in Mrs. Whippie’s Charm School.

Izzy receives a letter, a shiny gold bracelet, and instructions telling her how she will “earn her charm.” Izzy must earn her first charm and actual charms—by performing a series of tasks and good deeds.

After completin some of the tasks—to Izzy’s surprise, she actually finds herself enjoying the course. But when one of her attempts at doing something good is misinterpreted, she fears her chances at passing the course—and becoming a Paddler—are slipping away. With some unexpected friends there to support her, can Izzy manage to earn her charms and stay true to herself?

• ISBN10: 1481460331
• ISBN13: 9781481460330
• Publish Date: 29 November 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Aladdin
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

It really is the charming life of Izzy Malone. I loved this book. I mean, I did expect to like it - but it hit every one of my expectations and soared higher. Much higher.

Izzy was fantastic. She was weird and odd and brave and confident in herself, while also not being confident. She really resonated with me. She wasn't what I expected and it was just perfect. I liked that she was not the usual tween heroine. Her lack of insecurity was a real draw - she was comfortable in her own skin for the most part - it's everyone else that's not comfortable with her and I loved that she generally didn't let it get to her.

The friendship between her and her sister was also a real win for me. I loved that they weren't beset by jealousy and rage and arguments but genuinely supported one another. Although Izzy has a few nasty moments, she was quick to apologise and recognise it wasn't Carolyn's fault. And I loved that Carolyn was so understanding and supportive and nice.

I felt sorry for Izzy. Her relationship with her mum is tense. But I did like that it examined the issues and recognised that it wasn't Izzy's fault. Adults are humans too and capable of screwing up and making mistakes and being insecure. And that includes parents. It's a hard lesson for anyone to learn but I liked the way it was portrayed here. And I liked that Izzy did her best to understand that it wasn't about her but her mum's own issues.

I loved Aunt Mildred. Her past is sad. She was married to her high school sweetheart for all of an hour before he was killed in a car crash driving home to tell his parents they'd eloped. Her and Jack had planned to travel and Beatrice (her twin sister) encourages her to do it anyway.

“Jack didn’t have money for diamonds, so instead of a ring, he gave me this charm bracelet. Of course, at the time, it was just a chain with a tiny book charm. He said that our life together was going to be like the best stories: adventurous and full of daring. He said every new place we traveled to, every new thing we did, we’d add a charm to my bracelet.

Lundquist, Jenny. The Charming Life of Izzy Malone . Aladdin. Kindle Edition.

Therefore when Aunt Mildred hears that Izzy's mum wants her to go to a charm school she decided to make a flyer and stick it in the letterbox advertising her own charm school. It was pretty obvious that Aunt Mildred is Mrs Whippie but enjoyable all the same. I loved the charm school. The whole thing was magical. Whimsical. Awesome. I'd love to join a charm school like that.

So Izzy's mum joins her up to a charm school with this idea that she'd behave. But it's not so much a charm school as a correspondence course. In her first letter Izzy gets a charm bracelet with a tiny envelope charm. Each letter contains a mission of sorts, something she has to do or undertake in order to earn her charm. The first one for instance requires her to send a letter to someone who needs cheering up. Along the way she makes friends, develops a crush, gets into trouble and has some adventures. I really loved that Aunt Mildred wants to pass on her own charm bracelet and Izzy refuses because she thinks Aunt Mildred still has a lot of adventures of her own to have. I adored that Izzy goes to the effort of buying her a hamburger charm that she refuses to give her unless she goes on a date with Scooter and earns it. It was just perfect.

I love that Izzy, Violet, Daisy and Sophia decide to make their charm bracelet adventures into a Charm School Club. And I love that Aunt Mildred becomes the club sponsor. It's just such a whimsical idea. I would've adored this book growing up, I imagine I would've read and reread it a lot. Perfect book for tweens and a pretty enjoyable read for adults who want to revisit their childhood adventures. 5 stars.