Review Detail

This is All Your Fault, Cassie Parker

Middle Grade Fiction 223

Drama in the summer

June 14, 2016 (Updated: June 07, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

N/A

Writing Style

N/A

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

In this companion to Drive Me Crazy, we meet Fiona, whose best friend Cassie does not stop a popular from reading Fiona's diary, and the two fall out because of it. Cassie is mad that Fiona wrote things about her, and Fiona feels that her privacy was invaded. Cassie then takes off on her adventure in Drive Me Crazy, and Fiona is faced with a summer alone. Since her parents are divorced, Fiona has struggled. Her younger sister Leelu is perfectly happy to hang out with her father and his girlfriend, Jennifer, but Fiona is alarmed by the thought of "losing" not only her father, but also her sister, to Jennifer. Tired of the school drama as well as her family drama, Fiona decides that instead of a family trip to Disneyland, she would rather go to a writing workshop. There, she meets others who share her quirkiness, love of writing, and dislike of friend drama, and makes her peace with having lost Cassie as her best friend.

Good Points

I liked that this was a problem novel that addressed problems that many of my students ACTUALLY have. Rather than dead parents or dying siblings, it covers families that split apart but are supportive, friends who make bad decisions that negatively affect other friends, and a student who has a particular interest that she wishes to explore.

While there are a few students who want to write, there are a lot of books that have such characters. I'd rather characters who are interested in a sport, or recycling, or helping at a pet shelter. The prevalence of phones and social media, and the effects that these have on middle graders, are realistically portrayed.

Fiona was an annoying character, but I enjoyed the friend and family drama. It's nice that you could read this or Drive Me Crazy first since the books are companion volumes and not sequels.