I am sorry, but I really didn't like this book at all. The book is written with the protagonist Dorrie as the narrator. Suffering from adolescent angst, Dorrie resents her brother Fred. Fred has Down Syndrome and has the ridiculous nickname of Fredlet. The story plods along with Dorrie's whining voice and the ending is certainly neither a surprise nor a resolution of the story.

On the plus side, it is not the standard formulaic plot, but I still didn't like Dorrie or the story.

The book I read What About Me? was a good book. It's about a 15 year old girl named Dorrie who has an 11 year old brother, Fredlet, who is menatally challenged. He annoys Dorrie and sometimes she doesn't think before she yells at him. Dorrie's not happy with her life because she says her parents only pay attention to Fredlet. Her family wants to move to Maryland for Fredlet and her dad wants a job there. She gets to stay in New York City with her neighbor.
Dorrie's character has a lot of meaning. There are times where you can think she is stubborn and self-centered. There are also times when she can seem so caring when she's taking care of Fredlet. Fredlet has his own little world. There are things he says or does that only he knows and they are unexplainable. You try to figure him out but only he knows. This is what makes him such an interesting character. I think you should read this book and see what happens.

I read this book when I was about 12 or 13 years old. I grew up with a mentally disabled brother, and this was the closest books ever got to realistically discribing what goes on when no one else you know is growing up like you. Everyone else thinks your brother is cute, and isn't as bad as you say, but when you are that age it sure feels like it. Parents do put alot of responsibility on you, and you do end up missing out on alot of things because of an illness you yourself don't entirely understand. I am so happy to have found this book again.

This book is a real stinker. No two ways about it.

The protagonist is an odious girl named Sydney. She is a foolish girl who convinces herself and tries to convince other people that her natural father is a famous rock star, a member of the Australian group, the Boomerangs.

The Boomerangs are a thinly disguised ersatz version of the Beatles. Since the story is set in 1988 and John Lennon was at that time the only Beatle who was no longer living, naturally the Boomerangs had to have a deceased member. The Beatles had Ringo with the trademark nickname, so the fictitious Boomerangs had the fictitious "Pudge" as Ringo's imaginary counterpart. Jamie is silly Sydney's Boomerang of choice and she does some really stupid things. She writes a letter to the local paper saying she is Jamie's daughter; when she comes across an article about the death of Jamie's mother, she cries over the death of her grandmother.

Sydney's mother is another foolish charcter. The only thing she has told silly Sydney about her father is that he was Australian; Sydney invents the rest. They live in an apartment with a nosy landlord who has the audacity to question the mother's social life. Since when does an adult have a curfew or have to report to a landlord?!

The ending is as stupid as Sydney. I didn't like Sydney at all and I really didn't care for this stupid story. A round of pies in the face for Sydney!