Annie's Adventures, 1

by Greg Logsted, Jackie Logsted, Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Book Overview

A rather large problem has befallen the Huit girls. (Sisters, actually. Octuplets to be exact.) One particular New Year's Eve, the girls wait for their mommy to bring them hot chocolate and their daddy to return with more wood for the fire. But they don't. Mommy and Daddy, that is. They're gone. Poof! Maybe dead--no one knows for sure.
You must see the problem here. Eight little girls on their own, no mommy or daddy to take care of them. This is...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 054705338X
• ISBN13: 9780547053387
• Release Date: December 2008
• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.0" x 7.4"
• Age Range: 6 to 9 years
• Grade Range: Grades 1 to 4

Customer Reviews

Hilarious hijinks for Penderwicks fans

Both my daughters love this new series starring eight eight-year-old sisters, mystery, adventure, and a huge dose of humor. The Huit sisters live in an unusual house, shared with eight unusual cats. In the way of multiples, the sisters find ways to distinguish themselves from one another, and Baratz-Logsted has done a brilliant job of imagining the conflicts and the joys of sisterhood. The set-up allows for each sister to discover a new and unexpected capacity within herself. And it's so fun! I read these aloud and we hurt ourselves laughing. With eight personalities and new skills, every child will find someone to identify with. Unlike such creations as The Spice Girls, girl power here is found in accomplishment, not in looks. Without saying a word, Baratz-Logsted also does an amazing job of defying gender norms and invoking feminism. Highly recommended to fans of The Penderwicks, Nancy Drew, Scooby Doo, and any child who's ever thought about what it would be like without those parents around.

Five stars from my eight-year-old

My eight-year-old daughter absolutely loved this book. I won't go into the book's plot as that has been well covered by previous reviewers, but I will add that my daughter was fascinated by the way the octuplets had to take control of a life without parents. I think because she depends on us so greatly, as all children do on their parents, it was really neat for her to see these girls get on by themselves. There were also some very funny scenes that got a good chuckle out of her.

WONDERFUL new children's series

[...] This is the start of a new children's series about eight sisters (octuplets!) whose parents disappear on New Year's Eve. It turns into a mystery as the girls discover that they each have a power and a gift they must use to discover what happened to their parents. Premise - Adorable. Not entirely realistic, but it's not supposed to be. This is a fanciful kids' book and it does exactly what it's supposed to. 4. Plot - This is only the beginning of the story, but I. Love. The. Plot. And I'm not normally a plot person. The scrapes that the sisters end up getting into because of pretending that everything is fine while their parents have disappeared (or died) are hilarious. 5. Characters - There are plenty of characters and it's hard to get to know them, at least in this first book. A few of the sisters' personalities are well-defined in this first book while some of them seem to blend into the background. I don't necessarily think that's a flaw though - the authors have planned nine books, so there's plenty of time to get to know the other sisters. I say a 4 for the characters, not because they're all that realistic, but because they're awesome in their charicatureness (is that a word?) and wonderfully written. Voice - I kept thinking Lemony Snicket as I read this book. The writing carries a similar type of humor while remaining much less dark than Snicket's books. You get the feeling, in this story, that things are GOING TO WORK OUT WELL and the fun part is in the getting there. (Also: I'm a particular fan of the prologue. Read it.) 5. Interestingness - 4. TOTAL SCORE = 22 (One of the highest scoring books I've reviewed yet, and well-deserving.) Bottom line: This is a kids' book. If you have kids, know kids, are a kid, or enjoy kid books, you'll probably really like it. Especially if you liked The Series of Unfortunate Events or enjoy fairy tales. (This had a very fairytale feeling to me.)

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Annie, Durinda, Georgia, Jackie, Marcia, Petal, Rebecca, and Zinnia are octuplets. They were born on August 8th and will be celebrating their 8th birthday and they have eight cats. On New Year's Eve, Mommy went to get eggnog, and Daddy went to get firewood, but they didn't come back. The Sisters 8 find an anonymous note that says each girl has a power and a gift. Each sister must discover her power and find her gift in order to learn what happened to Mommy and Daddy. But with no Mommy and Daddy around, the girls have more than a mystery to solve. Who will cook them food? Or drive them to school? And how will they pay the bills? The adventures for these octuplets are just beginning! ANNIE'S ADVENTURES is the start to a great new series by authors Lauren Baratz-Logsted and Greg Logsted, along with their daughter, Jackie. The entire family helped write the story and come up with ideas, and there's definitely something in the story for everyone. Each of the Sisters 8 has a unique personality and each one is clever and funny. I can't wait to find out what each of their powers will turn out to be! THE SISTERS 8 would make a great read-aloud for families to share together. Readers of all ages will enjoy the mystery mixed with humor and will be eagerly waiting to read about the next sister in line. (I know I am!) Reviewed by: Sarah Bean the Green Bean Teen Queen

The Most Fun Set of Octuplets You're Likely to Meet in Fiction

This introduction to The Sisters Eight is charming, ridiculous, mysterious and strange. The octuplets, whose were each born one minute apart, find on New Year's Eve that their parents (dad's a model, mom's a scientist) are missing, via a note left for them telling them they will each discover a power and a gift. Annie, the oldest, takes charge, as they try to hide their parentless state from their mean teacher, the McG, and the kindly mechanic, Pete, who manages to somehow catch on (despite Annie's disguising her voice as her dad and putting on a fake moustache). Oh, and there's talking cats and petulant sisters and a cute boy named Will. These sisters are zany and adorable, and their antics and love for pink frosting, along with the sense of drama infused by Baratz-Logsted and her co-authors, husband Greg Logsted (author of the YA novel Something Happened) and 8-year-old daughter Jackie, make this a series I'm looking forward to reading. Some of the naming conventions, like each cat corresponding to a sister, get a little outrageous, but the fun inventions, like shoes they use to walk on the ceiling and a misprogrammed robot maid, are absolutely delightful. The girls are wise beyond their years (some of them), but still have to deal with basic kid stuff like school and, oh yeah, not so basic stuff like their missing parents. They mostly take the disappearance in stride and focus on their daily tasks. It's hard to get a sense of each and every one of them from the book, though sourpuss Rebecca stands out. These little girls know what they like (shopping for toys, their cute classmate Will) and what they don't (their teacher, for one, and their nosy neighbor, The Wicket). The sisters will likely appeal to Lemony Snicket fans, though while they too face tragedy, the story isn't grim (or Grimm) at all. I might have preferred that each girl tell her own story in the first person rather than first person plural, but it still works. This is a fun read and will appeal to kids who wonder just how much fun it would be to have their parents out of the house; in Annie's Adventures, it's fun but takes some grownup smarts to keep their busy, octuplet and animal-filled household running smoothly (with a little help from their friend Pete, whose knowing kindness makes him a standout character).