Yeah, I was braced for secondhand embarrassment but sometimes it was A LOT. Why, children! Why do you do the things you do!

...ahahaha I didn't even think about The Dangers Of Conformity And Communism but you know what, you are absolutely not wrong. I also loved it as a kid as I loved anything with angry, unlovable preteen girls as heroines! See also: Diana Wynne Jones' Entire Oeuvre.