The novel continues the life adventures of the English Roses, five best friends first introduced in a couple of charming picture books. The girls are talented in their own unique ways, but bound together with close ties of friendship. They are graceful, pretty, and good; they love each other and like helping others. Also, they are typical preteen girls, who enjoy giggling and gossiping. In this story, they are beginning their sixth grade year with high expectations. However, events are about to be shaken in their happy world. The story involves all five girls, but focuses on one. Grace, the avid footballer (meaning soccer player, as this is England), has noticed that her parents are acting odd. Her mom is constantly cleaning the house and baking cookies, and her dad is missing soccer practices and other family events. Even the appearance of a cute boy who also plays football isn't enough to alleviate her fears. Anxiety turns into nightmare when Grace finds real estate ads and assumes that her parents are looking for a new place to live. Grace tells her friends, and they share her worries and fears. However, using their compassion and wits, and with a little help from their friendly fairy godmother during a dream, the girls realize that no matter how far apart they are, they will always be best friends, they will always be the English Roses.

The series keeps growing on me. I read the first picture book, not expecting much, and was pleasantly surprised by the story and characters and art work. Although not the finest example of the genre, the whole package was charming and uplifting. This book continues to delight. One of my criticisms of the first picture book was that the girls weren't differentiated enough, but the series seems to be working on that angle extensively. The girls have different hobbies and passions, and if each book focuses on a particular girl as this one did with Grace, we will learn even more about their inner thoughts and families. Certainly, with the extra narrative space afforded by a novel, the author has more opportunity to bring five distinct personalities to life, a more challenging task in the shorter picture book format. Although, the book is really somewhere in between a picture book and a chapter book, with small chapters that use a larger font and plenty of illustrations, making for a fast reading pace. I wanted a quick read, and this story was the right fit. The fairy godmother continues to be a discordant note, but was less distracting than in her first outing. The artwork is still quirky and appealing. I had fun reading this entry in the lives of the English Roses. I'll continue to be open to books from this series. ( )

The English Roses are best friends and all they want to do is: have sleepovers, have lunch together, but this starts to change when Grace realizes she might be moving. After all of the stress these 5 girls stick together through this horrible time trying to figure out the confusion of Grace's household. ( )