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Molly, 12, feels like a social loser, but after she finds a magic machine (she calls it the Who Meter) that tells people whom they are going to marry, the sixth-grade klutz is suddenly popular, and even the in-crowd is lining up to find out about their future mates. The truth isn't always attractive, though. The lunchroom queen finds out that she will marry seven times, and even Molly herself is paired with a silly outsider (or is he really quite nice?), and learns that they will have more than 700 kids. Worst of all, there is no way to break up the coming marriage of Molly's widower dad with the world's worst stepmother-to-be (named the Claw, her long red nails an apt metaphor for her sharpness). The fantasy elements are fun, especially because they never negate the contemporary realism in those elemental power struggles at schoolyard and at home.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2009 Booklist

School Library Journal
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Gr 5-7-Twelve-year-old Molly and her best friend, Tanna, discover an antique machine that accurately predicts who you are going to marry. Tanna is ecstatic about her rich, British future husband, while Molly is less than thrilled to learn that hers is an obnoxious fifth grader she already knows, and is even more dismayed to learn that her father might marry Phyllis (aka the Claw). Both of these scenarios lead Molly to question whether the future is set, or whether the machine's predictions can be altered, and she sets about trying to change both her father's and her own readings. At the same time, she reluctantly agrees to charge her classmates for appointments with the Who-Meter (or Ewmitter, as it comes to be called). This brings about unforeseen complications that further trouble Molly: a girl with multiple future spouses, and a boy with no match at all. The internal struggles that Molly faces when she uses the Who-Meter are the highlight of this title.-Amanda Raklovits, Champaign Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.