Mallory Makes a Difference

Mallory McDonald #28

by Laurie B. Friedman, Jennifer Kalis (Illustrations)

Mallory spearheads a school food drive, with a prize for the class that brings in the most cans. She just has to make sure the spirit of Thanksgiving doesn't get lost in all the hype.

Genres: Childrens, Thanksgiving

152 pages, Hardcover

Published August 1, 2017

About the author

Laurie Friedman is the author and ghostwriter of over 300 award-winning picture books, easy readers, chapter books, and novels for young readers including the bestselling Mallory McDonald series, the Moose the Dog easy reader series, the Camp Creepy Lake and Wendy & Willow chapter books, and may picture books including Cows in the House and Love, Ruby Valentine.

Reviews

[The Dusty Jacket · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mallory McDonald, no relation to the restaurant, had a rotten Halloween. She had two places to be on Halloween and rather than choosing one, she tried to do both and quickly realized that instead of having it all, she ended up with nothing. That’s why Thanksgiving was going to be better…it had to be! Mallory decides that she would feel better if she could make others happy so with the help of her friend Joey, Mallory organizes a school-wide canned food drive to help the community food bank. Soon the entire student body at Fern Falls Elementary is on board…especially since the winning grade gets one homework-free week as a prize! But soon things start going wrong and as the thrill of competition overshadows the spirit of giving, can Mallory still make a difference when everyone around her seems to hate her?

Mallory Makes a Difference is the 28th and final book in the Mallory McDonald series, which ran from 2004-2017. In this last installment, author Laurie Friedman has Mallory facing a fracture in her relationship with Mary Ann where she discovers, as most girls her age do, that your friendships from childhood evolve and change. Even as our young heroine puts aside her own wants by doing something for others, she still craves approval from friends who don’t share her own views or desires. Readers are sure to empathize with Mallory as she navigates between doing the right thing while still wanting to please her peer group.

Friedman ends her series with a nice story that shows young people the benefits of giving back to your community and being a force for positive change. At the end of the book, Friedman provides readers with a 10-Step Guide to Planning a Great Community Service Project that anyone wanting to make a difference can use as a template. Through Mallory, readers are shown the value of planning and teamwork, as well as the rewards of getting different ideas and being open to new approaches. Something that all of us can appreciate and should take to heart.

All through the food drive, as Mallory watched the spirit of the event deteriorate as the prize became more important than the purpose, she kept reminding all involved (even herself) that helping other people was the true important thing. Maybe if more of us kept that in mind, we—like Mallory—could make a difference, too.

[Zed Lambrecht · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about how an elementary school child had some bad experiences with "friends," and does nice things for others as a result. The story describes very mild slights, catty in nature, and a clever remedy. She successfully arranges an event with a friend, it goes well, and they are the heroes of the day.
The material is presented in a somewhat dull way and the story moves slowly. Around the middle, most chapters seem like they end as in the book's end. I'd say these are because of inadequate transitions between the last chapters.
The reasons I gave it four stars are: it is easy for a child to understand; it expresses a good message; and I didn't notice any spelling errors or grammar misuse. I am likely too negative because I am an adult reading a story addressed to children within the 3rd to the 6th-grade range.

[Abigael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good gender equality representation (protagonist is female, sidekick is male; principal is female, secretary is male). Poor racial equality representation: Only 3 non-white side characters (including one unnamed student) in illustrations. There is also a (probably) offensive picture of the protagonist with her family on Thanksgiving in which they are wearing headgear/"hats" that seem to celebrate the racist side of Thanksgiving. Original rating: 4🌟 Adjusted rating: 2.5🌟(rounded up)

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book Mallory and her friend Joey decide to run a food drive around Thanksgiving time. The cans for each grade get all messed up and we don't know who won, but this book is a good example of doing good things for other people for the unselfish reason of wanting to help. The writing was a little weird and it felt a little drawn out but it had a good moral and inspired some altruistic thought!

[Joey Gremillion · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are beaucoups of "friendship" stories for tweens and most of them have the same rote archetypes: best friends who fight, mean girls (or boys), inspiring or mean teachers, angst, angst, angst. The Mallory series is towards the top of that list. For those readers who really enjoyed Judy Moody, Junie B. Jones, Dork Diaries, this series is PERFECT.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I checked this out from the library because it popped up in a "Thanksgiving" search and I wanted to read a TG book. I ended up absolutely loving this, though, and now I want to go back and read the whole series!

[Mia Giarritano · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series!!!

[Bella Gerwig · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many things changed to good and bad stuff in the book and it is a very interesting book. It gave me entertainment!