This May End Badly

This May End Badly

by Samantha Markum

When Weston and Winfield announce that they will merge and become co-ed, Doe is overwhelmed with feelings of anger and denial. Weston has been her home for the past three years and merging with the boys of Winfield could destroy everything that she loved about the school.

Her nemesis at Winfield is Three. When his cousin, Wells, offers her the chance to mess with Three, while also getting him an heirloom that Three has, Doe takes the chance. 

Even as she fake dates Wells, Doe works on pulling off the most legendary pranks against Winfield. This prank war has gone on for generations and Doe has pulled off many against Three and Winfield in her time at Weston and Doe hopes that maybe the prank war can stop the merger.

But the prank war and the merger aren't the most important things that Doe needs to focus on. There is a darkness lurking within Doe and within Doe's precious school.

Final thoughts: This was a pretty well done story. It was solid and Doe has a strong point of view. My only real complaints were that everyone and everything had a person's name (even the parents were referred to by their first names, making it often difficult to keep all of the characters straight) and one of the pranks was extremely dangerous but there were no real consequences. Otherwise, the story is solid and I believed Doe's growth over the course of the book. 

Rating: 4/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I Speak Boy

I Speak Boy 

by Jessica Brody

After Emmy messes up a "meet cute" setup that she was making for her best friend and a boy at school, she ends up dunked in the dirty water of the "Enchanted Lagoon" at their school's first-ever carnival. Desperate to keep her phone from becoming permanently drowned, she drops it into a bag of expired rice. 

While waiting for her phone to recover, Emmy thinks over the disastrous night and wishes that she could understand the alien language of boys. 

Wish granted.

Once the phone is up an running, Emmy's translator app on her phone suddenly is no longer just "iSpeak" but "iSpeak Boy". Now everything that males of the species say, write, and draw can be translated in this handy little app, making Emmy the "Love Coordinator" of her middle school. She's helping girls figure out the boys they like and she's getting popular as she does it.

But not everyone likes what Emmy is doing and not everyone who likes what she is doing can be trusted.

Final thoughts: Modern day middle school retelling of Jane Austen's Emma. This is written for upper elementary and middle school students so that should be considered, but it really is cute and fun. 

Rating: 4/5