I LOVE THIS BOOK! Its cool, interesting and I love the way it is written and I love the little activities Mina sets. I also kinda like how not much happens in the first part, you just get to know Mina and how she thinks and feels about things. The poems Mina writes are really cool.However, I agree, the second half was much better than the first half.It is quite easy to read but has lots of stuff a younger child probably wouldn't appreciate as much.Great book, really recommend it! I can't rate this book with any clarity, so I will leave it under 'read' for a while. I will have to read it a few more times before I'll even consider stars. It seems beyond star-dom. Not in a bad way. I wish I'd read it when I was much much younger and was having those Mina thoughts myself. I would have felt less alone, perhaps. A lot of it made me smile with recognition. Reading it as an adult, I found myself impatient at times, wanting a 'story'. Then it made me question my need for camera, lights, action. Then it made me annoyed. With it and with myself for being annoyed with it. A very engaging book, in other words.A week or so later: Okay, mind made up: 5 stars - I'm still thinking about it.