Sacks (You Were Made for This) tells of the exciting adventure undertaken by seven-year-old Dolly and her best friend Clemesta, a plastic horse, after her father scoops her up and whisks her away. Dolly is thrilled to be with her father, to miss school, and to travel out of state for the first time. However, the longer the trip lasts, the more Dolly misses her mother, who is away on a girls' weekend, and the less elated she is to be sleeping in hotel rooms and eating junk food. Clemesta is even less content than Dolly and doesn't like the experience at all. Eventually, Clemesta helps Dolly remember what she wants to forget and realize what isn't right with this big adventure. VERDICT This relatively short novel will keep readers hooked from the first sentence to the last. Sacks's use of Dolly's voice as narrator allows events to unfold from a child's perspective and encourages readers to try to piece together the secret behind the "big adventure," which is ultimately unexpected for readers and life-changing for Dolly.—Lisa O'Hara, Univ. of Manitoba Libs., Winnipeg