Write Before Your Eyes by Lisa Williams Kline Ages 9-12 192 pages Delacorte October 2008 Hardcover     The famous Spiderman Credo states: With great power comes great responsibility. In Lisa Williams Kline’s new book, Write Before Your Eyes, twelve-year-old Gracie learns that lesson firsthand. When she buys an old journal at a yard sale, she soon realizes that everything she writes in it comes true. Suddenly, this quiet, unpretentious girl is given the power to change the world. At first, Gracie uses the journal for small things, like helping her brother get a good grade on a test or eliminating the school dress code, but she plans to work her way up to the big stuff - ending hunger and global warming, creating world peace. But when the small changes prove to be disastrous, it’s up to Gracie and her best friend, Dylan, to “fix” her mistakes and re-alter the course of their lives. This is not an easy task, especially when someone else gains possession of the journal. Write Before Your Eyes is a fun and fast-paced literary adventure. Gracie is so typically twelve that you can practically swim in her uncertainty. Although her blunders make a mess of everything, it’s clear from the beginning that her heart is in the “write” place. You can’t help but fall in love with Gracie and cheer her on as she finds out the true power of the pen. After all, the shoulders of a middle schooler aren’t big enough to carry the world’s problems, are they?     web reviews   Niki Schoenfeldt/2009 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)