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Roxy Davis smeared a glob of shimmery gloss on her already naturally pink lips, covered up her sparkly, brown eyes with a pair of oversized sunglasses, and let out a long, deep sigh.

What’s taking so long? she wondered as she leaned into the leather seat cushion in the backseat of her dad’s silver sports car.

Roxy couldn’t imagine being late for the first day of school. She was expected to be on the front steps with the rest of her crew. It would look terrible for the queen bee of the seventh grade to get to school after the first bell rang. Well, co-queen bee.

She was sharing the honor with her best friend, Liz Craft, of course. They were the new princesses of Monroe Middle School, and they had waited all summer to wear their crowns. Liz would be ultra-annoyed if Roxy showed up even one second late. When Roxy’s platinum pink BlackBerry started buzzing in her lap, her stomach knotted up like a pretzel. The text was from Liz.

Leaving in a few—what’s ur location?

Roxy leaned over to the front seat and started pounding on the horn.

“Dad!” she screamed out the window. “Dad! I’m going to be late!”

Roxy’s dad came running out of the house. His tie was hanging loosely around his neck, and he was carrying his suit jacket over his briefcase. He looked disheveled and angry as he got in the driver’s seat.

“Roxy, we never leave for school this early,” he said breathlessly. “And why are you in the backseat? I’m not your chauffeur.”

“C’mon, Dad, this year is way different. That means I absolutely have to be on the front steps at least twenty minutes before the first bell,” she tried to explain calmly.
“And gross! Only sixth graders sit in the front seat with their daddies!”

Roxy’s dad sighed, turned on the radio, and started singing along to a whiny old tune from the ’80s. Roxy tried to block the sound out while texting Liz a little white lie.

Almost there!

Roxy closed her eyes and twirled her pin-straight brown hair around her perfectly manicured finger. Hair-twirling was her worst habit, and she only did it when she was stressed. During sixth grade, Roxy and Liz had worked very hard to earn the respect of their classmates—allowing them to rise to the top of the social circle for this year. Roxy wasn’t about to ruin that on the first day of school. She tried to relax, but her skinny jeans were too tight. She squirmed and quickly unfastened the top button. Whew. At least she could breathe before school. According to the Fashion Bible—the top-secret notebook Liz and Roxy used to plan their daily outfits down to a nail-polish shade, Roxy was to complement her too-tight jeans with the perfect pair of rocket-red platform boots. The boots already pinched her feet, but Roxy had known she was taking that risk when she’d bought them a half size too small. It wasn’t so much a risk as a requirement. Liz had insisted they share shoes so they could have double their wardrobe options.
Roxy didn’t mind that Liz had feet a half size smaller than hers. After all, Liz had perfect arches and needed to wear properly fitting shoes at all times. Besides, once an outfit was logged into the Fashion Bible, there was no turning back.

“Holy Mother of…” Roxy’s dad yelled as the car came screeching to a halt. It jerked forward so suddenly that Roxy’s sunglasses flew off and her BlackBerry vanished underneath the front seat.

“Dad! Come on—I’m late…” Roxy looked out the window—and then blinked and looked again. Was she seeing things? “Dad? What’s happening? What’s going on?”

Traffic was backed up in every lane of the main intersection—the same intersection that Roxy needed to cross to get to school. All of the town’s dog walkers marched in front of the traffic jam—with no regard for the green traffic lights.

They paced back and forth with signs in their hands that read, “DOG WALKERS ON STRIKE!” They chanted in unison slogans like, “Dog Walkers Unite!”

But that wasn’t the worst of it. Every dog the walkers were responsible for ran free in the streets. People were abandoning their cars in the middle of the street to search for their lost dogs. Those without dogs had no choice but to leave their cars too. The risk of running over a pooch made driving way too dangerous.

The dogs, however, clearly loved every second of their newfound freedom.

“Dad! How am I going to get to school?” Roxy shrieked while an oversized black poodle started pawing at her through the window. “I should have been there already!” Roxy’s dad leaned on the horn to shoo away a Doberman that was using the hood of their car as a tanning bed.

“I hate to tell you, but I think you’re going to have to walk the rest of the way, Pumpkin,” her dad sighed. “It’s only a few more blocks.”

“I’m already late!” Roxy’s voice went up three octaves. The ears of a few dogs surrounding the car perked up at the shrill noise.

“You’re acting rather spoiled, Roxy,” Mr. Davis said sternly. “And I don’t think you have much choice about walking.”

Roxy managed to locate her BlackBerry and texted Liz. This was an absolute catastrophe.

Have u seen loser dog walkers & picket line? Going 2 b late… don’t freak!

Hitting “Send,” Roxy knew Liz would freak. She slammed the car door shut, muttering a quick good-bye to her dad. Taking slow, tiny steps in her too tight, too tall boots, Roxy began to tiptoe her way through the mess of dogs and people. She didn’t want to tumble over—and walking this slowly was the only way to prevent her feet from going numb with pain.

Why did I ever listen to Liz? Of course, she decided to wear flats today! It’s going to take me hours at this rate!

“Dog Walkers on Strike!”

“Dog Walkers Unite!”

The chanting was loud and overwhelming. Great, I’m going to go deaf too, Roxy worried as she navigated her way along the messy sidewalks.

She had to watch every step while passing through the dangerous zone of dog-pile land mines. Dogs of every size, color, and breed ran wild through the streets. Chihuahuas and Yorkshire terriers were playing tug-of-war with a water hose. A pack of Dalmatians and Labrador retrievers were going from garden to garden and digging up carefully manicured flower beds. Several fluffy sheepdogs herded small children safely through crosswalks.

Lazy malamutes and Bernese mountain dogs slept on sidewalks, enjoying mid-morning naps. Impressive Great Danes planted themselves in front of shop entrances, not allowing anyone in or out. And spunky greyhounds and border collies swiftly chased cats up trees. Roxy’s usually beautiful neighborhood looked like a giant, overrun dog park.
Why isn’t Liz texting me back? Roxy started to panic. She was officially late. And since Liz lived around the corner from the school, she didn’t have to deal with the chaos. Even though Roxy knew her thoughts made perfect sense, she also knew that Liz would never see it her way. If aliens abducted Roxy this morning, Liz would accuse her of being more loyal to some weird space creatures than to her. Roxy was about to risk spraining her ankle by breaking into a full-on sprint when she felt something pulling at her leg.

“Little Roxie! What are you doing here?” Roxy squealed. Nipping at her feet was Liz’s little black-and-tan Yorkie- Poo, which although spelled differently, happened to be named Roxie too. “Did those stupid dog walkers let you loose?”

Roxy picked up little Roxie. The tiny dog was shaking, but she licked Roxy’s face and calmed down as soon as she felt safe. Little Roxie had already been a part of Liz’s family when the girls became friends in the second grade. At first, Liz had suggested that Roxy should think about changing her name—but instead they called the cute pooch “little” Roxie. (Liz had a knack for noting Roxy’s similarities with little Roxie too!)

“Having problems with your BFF? Exiled from the “in” girls? If you answered yes, you’re in good company!

In, Doggy Divas, by Lauren Brown, Roxie Davis is going through the same nightmare. Roxie is all ready to start the first day of school as co-Queen Bee of the 7th grade. That is until her former BFF, Liz Craft, accuses her of kissing her boyfriend. Roxie did kiss him, although it didn’t happen the way Liz thinks, but Liz is too furious to listen to reason. In an instant, Roxie loses Liz’s friendship, her school status, and even the coveted Fashion Bible—the wonderful fashion journal that Roxie and the popular girls use to coordinate their wardrobes. Poor Roxie is stripped of everything popular and sent packing to find a new set of friends. Thus begins an awkward friendship with 7th grade misfits Kim and Georgia, two girls Roxie once gossiped about and laughed at. Because there’s a dog walker’s strike going on, the three girls go into business as the Doggy Divas, a group of dog-lovers who earn money and admiration as groomers, trainers and doggy fashionistas.

I found the "Doggy Diva" plot inspirational for other teens who might be thinking of going into business. The pacing was adequate and the “doggy confessionals” were clever, but I would have loved to see more “flesh” on the characters. I never fully understood the unforgiving, hard-as-nails Liz Craft, or even the outcast girls, Kim and Georgia, who forgave Roxie a bit too quickly to be believable. And I never figured out what Roxie truly wanted: to be with her new friends, or to be back with her old clique.

That being said, I believe young readers just experiencing the highs and lows of pre-teen life will easily identify with this book. After all, it’s about friendships, misunderstandings, and everything that goes along with being in 7th grade—including Queen Bee drama, and who doesn’t love to read about that?” - YA Books Central

“I really enjoyed this syrupy sweet little book. The plot focused on the classic "popular girl falls from grace and discovers true friendship with underdogs" storyline that is so common in books of this genre. But plot isn’t everything, the writing is much more important, and this book is very well written. It is obvious that the author of this book is very in the know on what technology kids are embracing, namely Twitter and Facebook. The author is also very in tune with tween girls and I felt that the book was quite authentic in the dialogue. She didn’t go overboard with the teenspeak, which is good, because when an author does that, they don’t make their book sound younger but instead end up aging themselves. There were lots of cute things about the book, but my favorite parts were the "Doggy Confessionals" which were featured at the end of each chapter. The dogs were observant,very insightful and sassy, much more so that their human counterparts. The Doggy Confessionals are definitely what sets The Doggy Divas: Roxy’s Rules apart from other books with similar premises. Overall I really enjoyed this book, but as with many of the books written for those of a younger demographic, there were definitely some logic leaps where you have to force yourself not to over think. I don’t really mind this, as I believe it to be a perfectly acceptable writing device in a book for a 9 year old girl. I tried not to think too hard on why a dog walker’s strike would lead to dogs freely roaming the halls of the local middle school (why not just lock them up in cages and dog runs?), because ultimately, it didn’t really matter. The book isn’t meant to be a deep character study into the human condition blah blah blah, its just meant to be fluffy fun, and it absolutely is. This book is a great price and a good book for a young girl, I’d say, 2 Borders with a Coupon.” - The Book Buff

“The Doggy Divas: Roxy’s Rules was a funny, adorable, and quick read perfect for any tween girl or even younger age teen.

Roxy’s Rules starts at the beginning of Roxy’s seventh grade year. This is year is supposed to perfect, Roxy thinks, because not only will Roxy be ruling the school with her best friend Liz, but she may have just found the perfect boyfriend in charmingly adorable Matt. Though, everything soon changes, when Liz suddenly throws Roxy to the dogs when Liz finds out that Roxy shared a movie-perfect kiss with Matt, the boy who was supposed to be Liz’s seventh grade year crush! Ooops! Now Roxy is banished to the land of the misfits where she finds Kim and Georgie, two girls who have also had their bad run-ins with Liz over the years. Though, trying to look on the bright side, Roxy quickly befriends Kim and Georgia and soon starts her own business with them called Doggy Divas. Though, will Liz try to ruin the day? And better yet, what about Matt... he keeps sending Roxy all these mixed signals. Lastly, are Kim and Georgie actually better friends than Liz was all those years? Only time will tell in this cute tale of dog businesses, middle-school rivalries, and crushes gone wrong!

Roxy is the kind of girl all girls are at least once in life...cast away by a supposedly "BFF" only to find out that friend was nothing like what you thought. I thought Lauren did a great job of perfectly captured the feeling of being abandoned by a friend with Roxy’s character, and I also enjoyed the fact that she didn’t have Roxy really mope over it, instead she moved on. Though, I will say I didn’t always like the way Roxy looked down upon Georgie and Kim at times, but other than that I thought she was a great lead character and someone I do think is a decent role model type character for tweens out there. I also loved the secondary characters in this such as Georgie, Roxy’s sarcastic and funny co-business owner, and Kim, Roxy’s other co-business owner whose love of dogs always amazed me. I have to admit, though, that I wasn’t always the biggest fan of Matt, since I hated how he stood by and left Kim rip Roxy to pieces, but I will say he does kind of make-up for everything in the end.

Another thing I enjoyed about Roxy’s Rules was the plot. I loved the fact that Lauren included the girls’ business and all that misshapes and fun that came with it, as well as the dog’s they walked POVs as well. Both were cute additions and my favorite parts of the story. I enjoyed the little morals that came with the book as well.

Brown’s writing was decent and definitely read like the typical middle-grade book, so I’m sure that age group will simply love it!

In all, The Doggy Divas: Roxy’s Rules is the perfect read for any tween girl you know out or maybe even you if you’re a dog lover or a fan of adorable, quick reads. I’m really looking forward to seeing what Ms. Brown has in store for us in the next installment.” - Lauren’s Crammed Bookshelf

“Lauren Brown’s The Doggy Divas is a middle grade romp perfect for the impossible-to-buy-for tween in your family. It’s a sure thing with an adorable cover that includes glitter!” - Melissa Walker on Unabashadly Bookish, bn.com

“Lauren Brown’s The Doggy Divas is a middle grade romp perfect for the impossible-to-buy-for tween in your family. It’s a sure thing with an adorable cover that includes glitter!

Here’s Lauren with the back story:

"I didn’t have a specific image in mind as I wrote, but once the title of the series was confirmed to be The Doggy Divas, I knew that it had to be pink, girly and fun. The word ’diva’ can evoke two connotations – really stuck up and demanding or really into the things that make being a teen girl so much fun – shopping, boys, friends and fun (in the most positive way, of course). Being a teen magazine editor and writer for over eleven years - I took inspiration from the latter. The cover had to be relatable across the board!

"I was adamant that the cover not look too young as can be the case when writing about tweens and animals. We decided it needed to look sophisticated yet fun – no easy feat. There’s a fine line between going totally, over the top girly and keeping it ’cool’ for lack of a better word. The trick to marketing to the tween/young teen age group is to make it seem like you’re skewing a little older – they would much rather read the things meant for their big sister than things specifically targeted to them.

"When I first saw the cover, I loved it. It looked like something that I would pick up on my own. I loved that you didn’t see the girl’s face – just her holding the dog (in sunglasses) in a purse. It gave it an air of sophistication without going too young.



"My editor and I both agreed that the perfect touch was to give the dog’s sunglasses a splash of glitter – another girly, fun touch that would make us stand out and get people talking.

"The notes were so minor that I barely remember much of a revise. I think everyone ’got it’ from the inception of this project what needed to be done to build this brand. This is a series so we had to be sure that the first book really set the tone and got readers excited for the next.

"It was illustrated by an artist who really took the overall theme and vibe of the book to heart. She nailed it from the first draft.

"You know, they say you can’t judge a book by its cover – but you can certainly get readers excited about a book by its cover. What I love about the The Doggy Divas’ cover is there are so many conclusions that you can jump to by looking at it – and all of them relate to some part of the story. You see a faceless girl carrying her posh, sunglasses wearing pet in a trendy pet bag. You could think that this is a story about a girl that has style, is up on fads and likes to everything from her outfit to her pets to be as put together as possible. And that related to our main character Roxy and her former best friend (and classic mean girl) Liz. But it also could reference the formation of The Doggy Divas and the passion all the girls – Roxy, Kim and Georgia – put into making it the premiere business of Monroe Middle School. I love that the cover really evokes the heart and soul of the book, the characters and the readers that I think would love this story best."

Thanks, Lauren! I am totally into the outfit on the cover—maybe because of my recent affinity for stripey socks—and the glitter on the glasses of the real copy adds so much, um, sparkle! It’s one you need to see in person to appreciate. Visit Lauren at laurenbrown.net or on twitter, @LBAuthor.” - Unabashedly Bookish on bn.com, Melissa Walker



“The Doggy Divas: Roxy’s Rules (Sourcebooks, $6.99, ages 9-12) by Lauren Brown is about two girls, Roxy and Liz, best friends forever, who get into a huge fight because Roxy accidentally kissed Matt whom Liz likes. Now Roxy has been kicked out of Liz’s group of friends and she has no one else to hang out with, until she meets Kim and Georgia. Together they start a dog-walking business. Once Liz has heard of this new venture she tries to end it, but ends up getting busted by Matt. In all this, somehow Roxy loses Liz’s dog Little Roxy and if Roxy doesn’t find the pooch in time Liz will shut down the business. However there is happy, very cute and romatic ending which I won’t reveal or I’ll spoil it all for you! I would love to read more by this author because this book had a hook which grabbed my attention and I couldn’t put it down. I would recommend this book to people who like friendship, romance, and drama. Hopefully there is a sequel!” - Parenthood.com, guest reviewer Julia (12)

“...we suggest curling up with the first book of the hilarious (pet-friendly) series Doggy Divas from author Lauren Brown.” - GirlsLife.com