From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up-Peggy Fleming Farrell, 17, feels no obligation to live up to her famous namesake-much to the disappointment of her father, a retired professional skater hoping to make a comeback at a local summer rodeo-on-ice. Taking care of siblings Dorothy, Torvill, and Dean; coaching mom at Lamaze class; and working at the coffee bar at Gas 'n Git are enough responsibility for the self-involved teen. From the first paragraph in which Fleming dodges a pursuant Doberman as she Rollerblades to work, the action never pauses. Quirky characters and misadventures are humorous and enjoyable, though they require a stretch of readers' imagination. The realistic teen angst of falling in love with a waiter at IHOP and attending summer school alternates with a far-fetched robbery caper perpetrated by her missing French teacher in a town busy planning a July ice capade with animals. In a page-turning climax, the crime is foiled by the in-line skating heroine who sprays him with a turbo coffee dispenser, then skates off to the hospital to help her mother give birth to baby Elvis. Calamity strikes again as she runs into a car and is rescued by the "Kamikaze" bus driver she delivers coffee to each day. The refreshingly teen voice is dead-on here and stands up to the caricatured adults and happily ever after plot. Readers looking for more tales like Louise Rennison's Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (HarperCollins, 2000) will find an amusing gem here.Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NYCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Gr. 8-12. Peggy Fleming Farel, whose father is a former figure skater, faces a bleak summer before her senior year: a mind-numbing job at the Espress-Oh-Yes coffee counter in a local gas station, French classes from a string of incompetent teachers, revoked car privileges (after she crashed the family car), and seemingly endless family chores including baby-sitting for her three younger siblings. In her free time, P. F. rollerblades to The Lot, a local parking-lot hangout, where she and her friend Charlotte half-heartedly consider a cast of dull boys. The characters, their conversations, and their conflicts are so wholly unexceptional that, like P. F., some teens will tire of this summer of responsibility, boredom, and the occasional prank--until Clark livens things up with a hilarious, albeit completely implausible, conclusion. Other teens, however, may find the lack of drama refreshingly realistic. What's most authentic is P. F.'s voice, which nicely articulates teens' ambivalence toward romance and their fierce yearning to both love and separate from their exasperating families. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
Peggy Fleming Farrell is about to have the best summer ever.

Only, it doesn't look that way at first: There's her job as coffee wench at the Gas 'n Git, her summer school French class, and her unrequited love for a certain waiter. Not to mention Lamaze class with her mom, and her dad's attempt at a professional ice-skating comeback.

So what is it that turns Fleming's summer around? The drive in a "borrowed" golf cart? Love among the pancakes? Appearing in the Rodeo Roundup Days parade -- by accident? The guy with the red flip-flops? What?


Card catalog description
High-school junior Peggy Fleming Farrell finds herself without a car, working at the Gas 'n Git, and fantasizing about a boyfriend during the hot summer her distracted parents are expecting yet another baby to join their ice-skating family.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
In a subtly complex novel bristling with vivid characters and keen humor, Catherine Clark introduces us to a small-town, straightforward teen learning about "responsibility" as she balances maturity with a freedom-loving soul. Sound like a familiar theme? At its root, maybe, but the story of Peggy Fleming Farrell's unexpected summer is something else -- and absorbingly hilarious. First off, Fleming is forced to take a job as the local Gas 'n Git's "Coffee Wench" to pay for the station wagon she totaled, and she has a U2 fanatic co-worker to cope with. She's enrolled in a summer school French class that has a rather absent teacher, and her former-meteorologist-now-pregnant mother has made her a Lamaze coach. It's a lot to keep track of for Fleming, but top it off with a dad who's preoccupied with his ice-skating comeback and Fleming's romantic interest (Steve) who's not dating her, and this girl's juggling act should win first prize. With the many issues in Peggy's life, you might wonder along the way how these various aspects could ever fit together. Fortunately, though, Clark weaves her character's threads like a master, and Peggy's worlds begin to focus after she confronts Steve at IHOP. With hysterical, surprising events that will keep you turning pages until the very end -- yes, those are indeed sheep in the skating rink with Peggy's dad -- Frozen Rodeo will have you devotedly attached to this teen and her frustrations far beyond her realization that honesty and understanding is a major part of growing up. Shana Taylor

ANNOTATION

High-school junior Peggy Fleming Farrell finds herself without a car, working at the Gas 'n Git, and fantasizing about a boyfriend during the hot summer her distracted parents are expecting yet another baby to join their ice-skating family.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Peggy Fleming Farrell's summer has taken a turn for the worse: She works at the Gas'n Git to pay back her parents for wrecking two cars, takes summer school French from a succession of increasingly lame substitute teachers, loves an IHOP waiter, and attends Lamaze class with her mother while her father prepares for his professional ice-skating comeback (read: midlife crisis). Just when the only exciting event looming before her is the town's annual Rodeo Roundup Days -- "exciting" being a relative term -- things take an unexpected turn for the better. Between hijinks with a hijacked golf cart, plans for streaking at the Rodeo parade, and a showdown over pancakes, Peggy's summer becomes more about mayhem than money management, and definitely something close to fun. Even if she never learns to speak French.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

A high school student spends a summer in a cattle town. "The author juggles more story lines than a circus performer does bowling pins," said PW. "But readers will be rewarded as the various elements come together in a fun-filled, fever-pitch conclusion." Ages 12-up. (Mar.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Christopher Moning

This is shaping up as the worst summer ever for Peggy Fleming Farrell. Because of two car crashes, her parents are making her work at the Gas 'n Git to earn money to pay back the insurance deductible. The boy she has a crush on￯﾿ﾽthe boy she signed up for summer French class to be close to￯﾿ﾽonly has eyes for someone else. When she's not working, her parents￯﾿ﾽa figure skating Dad and radio meteorologist Mom￯﾿ﾽuse her as a built-in babysitter for her three younger siblings, all of whom are named after famous figure skaters. And what do you know, little skater number five is on the way. The wandering plot loses focus from time to time in this latest take on teen angst, but the author effectively captures the awkward years when there seems to be little about life to be pleased with. 2003, HarperCollins,

VOYA - Judy Sasges 0060090707

It's the fifth day of summer vacation and I'm about to be killed by a Doberman. Obviously, Fleming's summer is not what she expected. Instead of relaxing with friends, she is up at the crack of dawn to pour coffee at the local Gas 'n' Git; baby-sit her younger siblings (all named after ice skaters, as is Fleming); try to learn French in a summer school class with an MIA teacher; lust after a waiter at the local IHOP; and coach her mother in childbirth classes. Summer becomes a little more interesting as Fleming ponders streaking during a civic event, performing an ice skating routine with her father, and foiling a robber. Despite a zany cast of characters and a slight plot with more action than sense, Fleming's story never seems to take off. In comparison to Clark's earlier novels, Truth or Dairy (HarperCollins, 2000/VOYA December 2000) and Wurst Case Scenario (2001/VOYA December 2001), the humor here seems forced and predictable. The diary format of the two previous novels proved popular with readers. This first-person narrative lacks the immediate hook that a diary provides. Younger readers, however, will identify with and enjoy many of Fleming's experiences and observations. She struggles with the universal teenage self-doubts such as finding a boyfriend, doing well in school, and most important, earning enough money to repay her parents for the two cars she wrecked. The book will probably disappoint fans of the earlier novels, but as a lightweight stand-alone title, it proves to be an adequate addition to the humor genre. PLB

KLIATT - Paula Rohrlick

To quote from the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, January 2003: Fleming (named for Peggy Fleming, by her figure-skating father) is spending the summer before her senior year of high school working at Express-Oh-Yes, serving up coffee to pay back her parents for totaling their car. She dreams of having a car of her own, of getting out of smelly small-town Lindville, and of dating handsome Steve, on whom she has a crush. But there is much to keep Fleming busy meanwhile: she meets a brash new friend in her summer French class, and they both wonder why their teacher never shows up; she has to baby sit her younger siblings, Dorothy, Torvill, and Dean, and accompany her pregnant mother to Lamaze classes; she starts to see a new boy; and she befriends her coworker, Denny, an aspiring songwriter who worships U2. A kamikaze bus driver and an unlikely robber play roles in Fleming's summer, too. She gets angry with her parents for taking her help for granted, but in the end realizes how important her family is to her and agrees to put on a skating performance with her father at the annual Rodeo Roundup Days fair—hence the title. Clark, the author of Truth or Dairy and Wurst Case Scenario, excels at creating warm, witty, and sympathetic female protagonists and at writing fast, funny dialog. Fleming is a charmer, and this is a delightful quick read that will appeal to fans of Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries series. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2003, HarperCollins, Tempest, 287p., Ages 12 to 18.

School Library Journal