Me and Banksy

Me and Banksy

by Tanya Lloyd Kyi

The Rumor Game

The Rumor Game

by Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra

 

Bryn, Cora, and Georgie are all seniors at the exclusive Foxham Prep, a school for the children of the political elite. All three have been raised to be the ideal children in their families and make their powerful parents look good. 

But Bryn had a very bad summer, which lead to her be essentially blacklisted at school and online. She has gone from the most popular and powerful girl at school to the bottom of every list. She's no longer invited to the best parties and she worries about how she will ever get back to the top. 

Georgie is Bryn's next door neighbor and she's had her own change in status since last spring. She went to a "fat camp" over the summer, lost 40 pounds, got a whole new wardrobe, and now is the "IT" girl of the school. She's also gone from unseen and ignored to one of the most talked about girls on social media at their school.

Cora used to be Bryn's best friend before that insane summer, but now she just wants to captain the cheer squad, get ready for college, and spend time with her boyfriend. 

These three girls will have a fall semester that they will never forget... and the Internet wouldn't let them forget even if they wanted to.

Final thoughts: The premise and the timeliness of the story are great, but the story itself is a little messy. Bryn is completely unsympathetic as a character, despite occasional efforts to make her seem like she's lost control of things. Cora is ok, but her actions at the end are highly questionable and even a little mean. Georgie is the most sympathetic, but things still aren't quite right there. The online events are completely realistic and sad since people can be so cruel. The offline events get a little weird and unbelievable. Overall, this is probably best avoided.

Rating: 2/5 (maaaayyybbbeeee 2.5)

ARC from NetGalley

Every Single Lie

Every Single Lie

by Rachel Vincent

Living in a tiny town means that there are no secrets, but there are always rumors.

When Beckett finds a tiny, dead preemie in the girls' locker room at her high school, a big secret is revealed and rumors run rampant.

Now the town is suddenly wondering who the mother is, what happened, and if Beckett herself is in the middle of it all.

When a new Twitter account starts sharing details that no one else should know, it gets followers from around the world and peaks the interest of local and national news.

Now Beckett is in the center of a firestorm and feels like no one can be trusted.

 

Final thoughts: Almost too real in today's world. Beckett's life has been pretty harsh during the last year, but it's all realistically built and not unbelievable at all. The boyfriend angle was resolved a little oddly, but the rest was solid.

 

Rating: 4/5

Not Your #LoveStory

Not Your #LoveStory

by Sonia Hartl

It was just supposed to be a special day for her mom. Macy Mae had saved and saved to be able to take her mom to a live Royals game. It was just supposed to be a great day.

And it seemed great at the time.

Even after accidentally spilling a drink on her seatmate, his subsequent t-shirt removal, and a few sparks, the day went pretty well.

Unfortunately, Macy Mae had no idea that her special day with her mom was going to be completely blown out of proportion when the woman sitting behind them decided to use this "meet-cute" between Macy and that boy into a way of earning instant Internet fame.

Within hours of getting home, Macy Mae has been all over the Internet and the news, and speculation is running wild about her and her #baseballbabe. Soon, her YouTube channel is blowing up and getting trolled. Her identity is doxxed and leaked out to the world. And Macy Mae gets everything she always thought she ever wanted, but never knew how to achieve.

But there's a cost.

Local boy Paxton finally seems to be ready to step up and talk to Macy Mae about more than just movies, but now she's Internet famous and her fame is dependent on dating #baseballbabe.

Final thoughts: This is a fictionalized version of the July 2018 #PlaneBae incident that took over the Internet for a few days. While the meet-cute incident is different, the players are much the same with a woman behind posting to improve her Internet presence and the boy playing it up for his own fame. Neither seems to care about the girl in this instance or how this all affects her life. This is a realistic and somewhat scary tale of what the Internet does far too well... make assumptions and run with them. This is not so much a YA novel as it is a NA (New Adult) novel, as Macy and all of the characters are post high school.

Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

by Becky Albertalli

Simon is a theatre geek and pretty good guy with some great friends. He's also a guy with a secret. 

Unfortunately, when he accidentally leaves his email logged on at school, his secret gets out and into the hands of someone who decides to use it as blackmail material. Now he not only has to protect his own secret, but the secret of his email friend (who is becoming much more than just a friend).

Simon must balance his outward life with his inward hopes and dreams. He must decide if coming out is better than hiding within. And he must figure out how if keeping his secret is worth damaging his friendships. 

Final thoughts: I bought this to read after seeing the previews for Love, Simon and I'm happy with picking it up. Simon is an honest character with simple dreams and scary realities. His life it outwardly pretty perfect and inwardly a mess. I love the blossoming of his online relationship with Blue and his trying to puzzle out who Blue was in his school. His family is great and realistically built and his struggles are too real for some. This is not a traumatized boy with a difficult family life; he's a regular teen with regular issues and regular friends and family. I really enjoyed Simon. My only real struggle comes from one of his best friends and an incomplete plot line there, but it doesn't detract from the main story.

Rating: 4/5

My Life Uploaded

My Life Uploaded

by Rae Earl

Seventh grader Millie Porter is just trying to survive as any preteen can in this day and age. She doesn't want to be at the bottom of the popularity food chain. She doesn't want to have to deal with her mother's boyfriend's cleaning obsession. She doesn't want to miss out on the chance to date the hot Canadian immigrant. And she doesn't want to get on the queen bee's social hit list.

What the most sensible seventh grader wants is to be seen and heard (but not laughed at) so she starts Hashtag Help with her BFF, her crazy family, a guy who geeks out over elevators, and a female cat named Dave. 

Now that she's got a vlog, can she balance her sensible real life world and her online experiences while avoiding the harsh realities of having her life up for everyone to see?

Final thoughts: I think I would have liked this more if the comments that Millie read and reacted to were visible in this ARC. Unfortunately, they weren't. So I'd be reading about one of her posts and then she'd talk about a troll's comments, but I never got to see it so I never could figure out her reactions. I'm also not a big middle-grade reader so Millie's voice didn't always fit right in my head as I read her. However, there were sparks of greatness and some truly honest moments throughout, so I think I am a fan. I would definitely watch a few of her vlogs if nothing else.

Rating: 3/5

ARC from NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group

TMI

TMI

by Patty Blount

Best friends Meg and Bailey have known each other since kindergarten. They've always had each other's backs, kept each other's secrets, and been there for each other.

But boys always cause problems.

Meg won't deal with her attraction to Chase, no matter how much Bailey pushes her in that direction.

Bailey won't face the fact that her online crush, who she's never met in person, may not be who she think he is, despite Meg's warnings.

Now the two start battling online with cyberbully posts that each one will come to regret and it's not sure if either one will win.

Final thoughts: Messy book that has a good message hidden in its bland pages. We're told Meg and Bailey are best friends but they are extremely petty and mean to each other over the tiniest things. Bailey whines and whines and whines about how much she's done for Meg, even though we never see it. Meg is in serious need of therapy about what happened with her father when she was a child. Neither behaves like they are 17. Heck! Bailey is even catfished by her own ex-boyfriend as revenge for something that could have been easily remedied, and yet she thinks she still loves him and wants to try again?!?! Chase is so up and down, totally accepting and then completely angry, and then totally loving again, that it's hard to believe he can truly care so much for someone who is constantly running hot and cold with him, as well. The end is a mess and was just extremely frustrating.

However, there's still that good hidden message to think about. There are still very good lessons about cyberbullying, posting before you think about the consequences, and the dangers of online relationships that really shouldn't be counted out. Too bad the rest of the story was just so bad.

Rating: 2/5

Speechless

Speechless

by Hannah Harrington

Chelsea Knot is horrible at keeping secrets.  She blabs everything she knows to pretty much everyone she knows.  No secret is safe.  Making out with your best friend's boyfriend? Wearing something hideous?  Shopping at the wrong store? Gay?

While drunk at a party, Chelsea reveals a secret and it leads to disastrous results.  

For the first time, she realizes that there are true consequences when she speaks.  After she reports what has happened to the police, she becomes the prime target of the very crowd who used to be her friends.  They begin a very deliberate campaign to punish her for telling the truth.

Because she can't trust her own words, she stops using them.  The school's biggest gossip takes a vow of silence.  And even though it upsets her parents and teachers, she is determined to keep her mouth shut.  She won't even defend herself from the slander and lies being thrown around about her.

Now Chelsea must fend off her former friends and try to find out who her real friends are, while also making peace with herself and her own past.

Final thoughts: Chelsea is familiar as a teen gossip who only does what she does because she hopes to keep her place with the "in crowd".  When she drunkenly outs a classmate and he is horribly beaten as a consequence, her personal path to redemption and forgiveness is interesting to follow.  While some of the moments seem forced and some things that happen seem a little too perfect, the overall story is done well and gives hope to readers who may be having difficulties speaking up and/or out.

Rating: 4/5

The Julian Game

The Julian Game

by Adele Griffin

Raye is an outsider in a world of insiders and cliques.  A scholarship student at a well-respected, very expensive, all-girls school, Raye is a late enrollee and completely out of the loop.  Her one friend, Natalya, is an outsider by choice, and the only person Raye trusts.

One evening, the two of them create Elizabeth Lavenzck, a profile on a social networking site like Facebook or MySpace.  Their creation is an exchange student from Poland who is exotic, says all the right things, and goes to all the right places.  She's instantly popular and makes "friends" with whomever she invites.

It was just a bit of fun.  Neither girl meant any harm.

However, when Raye tries to get on the good side (as opposed to the ignored site) of popular girl Ella Parker, Elizabeth become something dangerous.

Ella gets Raye to set up a boy who did Ella wrong at a party.  She wants revenge against Julian and Elizabeth can get it for her.  But Raye feels guilty and lets Julian in on the scheme.  

Unfortunately, she also falls for Julian, so she becomes the bullseye on Ella's target.  And now that Ella has seen what damage the Internet can do, she's become an expert at using it against Raye.

What can Raye do when every attack is virtual and there's no way to take it down?

Final thoughts:  I got my Master's researching Cyberbullying, and it's also the hot topic of the hour, but reading this was hard.  It's so very well written that it gives me chills.  Luckily, Raye has people around her who love her and a good head on her shoulders, but this book could definitely have gone down a different path.  Having a young son, watching him already master getting around online, I know that his future academic career is going to be vastly different than mine.  I never had to fear a bad picture getting online or forums dedicated to tearing me down.  What kids have to face today is beyond scary.

This is the perfect book to show to those who think that cyberbullying is just a fact of life and it's just kids being kids.  It's kids being cruel in a way never done before.  This isn't a 2-second insult in front of a crowd that shames and embarrasses.  This is an online post that can NEVER be fully destroyed and will always be there to haunt the victim.  Griffin nails these fears, and it's all the scarier for it.

Rating: 5/5

By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead

By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead

by Julie Anne Peters

"Bullycide.  I know that word well.  Suicide as an escape from bullying."

Daelyn knows bullycide only too well.  After two botched suicide attempts, she's determined that the next time she tries, she will not fail.  She's got it all planned out including the date, time, and way she's going to do it.

What she hadn't planned on was Santana, a home-schooled boy who lives near her school and suddenly is very interested in her.  She also hadn't planned on meeting Emily, a girl who is just as fat as Daelyn used to be and is going through many of the same things she had.

So, as Daelyn plans her suicide and spends time on a website devoted to those who are planning to kill themselves, she also finds herself reaching out to others and being reached by them for the first time.

Is it too late for her to step back from that suicidal ledge she's balancing on?

Final thoughts:  Initially, this book frightened me.  It's very well written, but filled with far too much detail with regards to many of the different options available, IMHO.  However, as I continued to read about Daelyn's past and reasons for wanting to just die and get away from the pain, I could see where she was coming from, though a large part of me wanted to just reach through the book and comfort her.  The ending is ambiguous, but I can just see this book getting banned because of the content. (I hope I'm wrong.)  This is good for older teens, especially those who don't see a way out, but should not be kept in middle school libraries.

Rating:  5/5

Bad Apple

Bad Apple

by Laura Ruby

Tola Riley has always been a bit misunderstood. But can you blame her? Her parents have divorced. Her dad married an evil stepmother who seems to come straight from a Grimm's Fairy Tale. Her sister only thinks about death and the evils of the world. Her neighbor wants her to declaw her cat. And her former best friend has started a campaign to ruin the reputation of the only teacher in school who ever let Tola be herself.

It's been a bad year.

And things only get worse when no one believes her when she says that the teacher didn't do anything wrong. Her art isn't appreciated by any of the substitute teachers who change each day. Her own mom won't speak to her about what's going on. And her former best friend's mother is determined to ban almost every book in the school's library without having even read them.

Can she fix everything that's gone so wrong? And can she catch the eye of that cute guy even while it seems like everyone is just trying to ignore her?

Kiss & Blog

Kiss & Blog

by Alyson Noël

Being popular is all that Winter and Sloane ever wanted in high school. In fact, they spent their entire summer studying for it. They had index cards to plan proper responses to what the popular girls would say. They purchased clothes that the popular girls would wear. They planned their pajamas for when they were "kidnapped" after getting on the cheerleading squad with the perfect cheer. They even created and signed a contract between them promising that if one girl became popular, she'd take the other with her.

But that's so not how things turn out.

Sloane gets in and Winter gets ignored.

Not only does Sloane not help Winter become popular, she pushes Winter aside as she gets to be the leader of the popular girls and dates the senior hunk of the school.

But Winter is no wimp. She decides to get even.

She starts a blog that is solely focused on sharing every single one of Sloane's deepest, darkest, most embarrassing secrets.

And though no one knows who she is, and no one knows she's talking about Sloane, the blog soon becomes the talk of the school and Winter has a question to answer.

What is revenge?

1. Becoming exactly like the person who hurt you or...
   
2. Becoming popular in your own way, without changing who you are.

Can she do both?

She'd better figure it out before it's too late.