In this book, Patty & her dad decide to spend part of the year in New York City. Patty has to actually go to school (shocking!) and figure out why it seems like no one likes her (it's nothing big). Then she starts to make friends, as she always does, and she even starts a club called the Grigs, because her British friend one day uses the expression "merry as grigs," and Patty decides that the girls she knows who are especially merry and cheerful should get together and focus on how they can make other people cheerful too. There are elements of Anne of Green Gables, Pollyanna, and any of Louisa May Alcott's books here. I really like the way it reads. It's innocent, but not overly simplistic; it can even be kind of deliberately funny. I look forward to reading more in the series. I wonder why these aren't as popular as Anne of Green Gables or Pollyanna? I think they're just as much fun. The last few chapters of this one had me smiling. ( )