Kara's father has moved to Santa Barbara for his job. Kara, though, is still in Pasadena with her mother, so she can stay in school. In actuality, her father moved as much to get away from her mother as for the job, and Kara would like to get away, too. Her mother is a bipolar personality, with moods that swing up and down without any warning. Before Kara's father left, her mom would go on big shopping binges and spend more money than they could afford. She would plan huge block parties, bigger and better than anybody else's. She would laugh all the time, or yell and argue all the time. But now, since Kara's dad left, her mom has spent months unable to get out of bed. She's supposed to take medicine to keep her well, but Kara isn't sure whether she really takes it or not.

Kara's in the sixth grade, and she doesn't know how to take care of her mother and still manage to take care of herself, too. If she isn't home within 20 minutes after school is out, her mother calls the police. Kara can't even go to the library --- and her schoolwork is suffering. Her friends want to hang out, but Kara can't leave her mom. And if she invited anybody from school home with her, her mom would freak out. She doesn't want to tell anybody how bad things are at home, because the police might come and take her mother away to a loony bin. Kara figures if her mom can change one way, then she can change back, right? So all Kara has to do is keep things going until her mom gets better.

Keeping things going means getting organized. Kara makes lists of five ways to get out of giving a book report, and three ways to keep the teacher from demanding a family conference. Kara believes that if she can at least look as confident and together as the people around her, then she will be a "real" person and her mom will get well.

This book takes place all in one day, Terrible Thursday. Everything mushrooms that day, building up to an awful disaster. Can Kara hold it off? Read this imaginative and interesting novel to find out!

   --- Reviewed by Tamara Penny