You Can't Eat Your Chicken Pox, Amber Brown by Paula Danziger

This is a cute story that tells a tale about making the best of what the situation is. Amber is set to travel to London to have the best vacation of her life. Unfortunately, soon after she arrives she gets the chicken pox. She is bummed at first but I love that she quickly gets over it and doesn’t let it bring her down. She even gets stuck in the elevator and instead of getting upset she makes the most of it and deems it an exciting story to tell others about. Her loyal friend Justin is a great friend to make her smile and lean on even when going through a tough time such as dealing with her parents divorcing, her father moving to a different country, and getting the chicken pox while on vacation.

This is fun book to read. Once I opened the book I noticed that it is a series book. I am curious to see how similar the other Amber Brown books are. I wonder if they all tie together in some way or just have the character, Amber Brown, as the only commonality. I am not familiar with the culture and terminology in London so this is a great beginner’s guide in learning some of the basics of the language over there. For example, they explain that a bathroom is called a loo and standing in line is called standing in a queue. I have never been to London before but it appears that they have a slightly different style of dressing. While I was reading this book, I felt the sense I was actually in London with Amber watching her because she describes things so vividly. Many of the experiences Amber had were fairly realistic and are, in fact, happening in a lot of people’s everyday lives. It is especially applicable to children who have had to deal with anything from family, social, to personal issues. I love how she took what happened in her life and reacted to it in such a positive and optimistic way. It brings inspiration to the reader which is what I greatly appreciate about this book.