Over the Top

When eleven-year-old Diva Pankowski’s family moves, she is horrified (but not surprised) that her mother’s new dream home is a bright pink castle-themed house. She’s used to her Mom’s excesses; after all, she’s lived her whole life with the name “Diva Cleopatra,” and her nine-year-old brother deals with “Hero Augustus.” But the pink palace is only the beginning of a series of new humiliations. While acting as a glitzy mermaid-mascot for her Mom’s party planning business, Diva is spotted by the class mean girls. Then, when she works up the courage to audition for her new school’s production of The Wizard of Oz, she’s cast in the baffling role of The Yellow Brick Road. But it’s DIVAPALOOZA!, the splashy, mammoth-sized, surprise, birthday party her family throws for her (inviting everyone in sixth grade) where things really lurch toward disaster. How on earth can Diva stay true to her quiet, introverted, under-the-radar self in an in-your-face, over-the-top world?