The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

"With a boy you can never know whether he's smitten or gagging, but with a girl you can tell in the first three seconds. Between girls there is a silent and unending flow of invisible signals, like the high-frequency wireless messages between the shore and the ships at sea, and this secret flow of dots and dashes was signaling that Mary detested me."

I read this book because it was chosen as Jamie's book club selection. I don't seem to ever make it to their discussions, but I like to read the books anyway. This one was wonderful. I hesitate to give books too good of reviews, because if people take my suggestion for a book I don't want them to be disappointed if it doesn't live up to their expectations. But I mean it--this was SUCH a fun book. The narrator is an 11-year-old girl, which makes the whole book. It would not be the same story if it weren't told from her perspective. 

I love Flavia's knowledge of chemistry and the way it shapes her outlook. I love her sarcasm and relationship with the adults in the book. I'm not going to go into specifics, because I really think you should just read this one for yourself. It's a relatively quick read, and I think Flavia is just so charming that you will instantly fall in love.

If you do decide to read it, please let me know what you think!