Honestly, Mallory! » (Reprint)

Laurie Friedman is the author of the Mallory series, as well as the picture books I'm Not Afraid of This Haunted House and Love, Ruby Valentine. She lives in Coral Gables, Florida, with her husband and two children. Ms. Friedman blogs about her writing projects.

Barbara Pollak is the illustrator of several books for young people including several titles in the Mallory series and the preteen fiction series Dish (Grosset-Dunlap). Ms. Pollak lives with her husband and two children in San Francisco, California.

Everyone seems to know what they want to be for Career Day at school—that is, everyone except Mallory. She can't seem to find anything she's good at. When she finally decides to be a fashion designer, some of her classmates laugh at her. And then, before she can stop it, out pops a lie—Mallory tells everyone that she's won the Fashion Fran fashion design contest. Mallory's lie grows and grows until she must face the truth and make amends with her class, friends, teachers, and parents.

Sharon R. PearceCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - School Library Journal

Gr 2-4
Likable Mallory is faced with a dilemma about what to do for third-grade career day. Her classmates already know what they want to be when they grow up. Finally, an idea comes, but when others make fun of her choice, Mallory blurts out a lie about it. She soon learns that even a little fib can create a huge problem, as it becomes more and more difficult to come clean with the truth. Mallory's friends take a backseat in this episode, as she faces the internal turmoil that comes with knowing you've done something wrong, and young readers will empathize with her. When she finally makes her apologies, she explains in kid-friendly language about the peer pressure that got it all started. The first chapter is an abbreviated "fairy tale" version of the plot that serves well as a preview of the story. Pollak's simple cartoon pictures appear throughout. Recommend this book to fans of Amber Brown, Judy Moody, Junie B. Jones, and the other Mallory stories.