The Battle of Darcy Lane

When a new family moves in across the street from Julia Richards, everything changes. Alyssa, the new girl, shows Julia and her best friend Taylor how to play Russia, a ball game. Suddenly Alyssa and Taylor are inseparable. Taylor hardly pays attention to Julia anymore; she and Alyssa even tease and make fun of her. When Alyssa tells Julia that she is just jealous because she cannot play Russia as well as Taylor and she can, Julia challenges Alyssa to a game of Russia that Saturday. Julia is determined to win – and win Taylor back too. Will Julia ever be friends with Taylor again, or will she learn that Taylor was never really a friend?

Although I liked this book, I could not relate to the characters. To relate at all, the best age would be around eleven to thirteen, since most of the characters in the book were that age. Also, I felt that Julia herself was not exactly nice; for example, watching a miniseries that her parents had told her not to, throwing a ball at Alyssa’s face, and lying constantly. Over all, I think there were just too many people being mean to each other.