You know what? This is no time to be star-stingy because I freaking love this book. The whole series, actually. I'm leading the kids' book discussion on this tomorrow, so I re-read it to refresh myself (I listened to the whole thing on audio in my pre-GoodReads days). Suzanne Collins knows how to pace a story, and how to write a war story for children. 
 Also, as the parent of a 2-year-old now, I found Boots to be more engaging and adorable than I did at the time, mostly because I was hearing her dialogue in my son's voice. 
 Most importantly--it's such a subtle thing, and a total non-issue, but it's nice to see another African-American hero of a fantasy series (but this time a series that kids/teens are still likely to read, unlike Earthsea). I'll bet the fans will be pissed when they find out.