This novel contains two seperate stories. The reader is led back and forth between these two tales. I enjoyed how the narration was completely different from each. The first one, told over most of a school year, is of three best friends trying to make their way through seventh grade while keeping their friendship intact. They face new friends, new interests that are different from one another, gossip, boys, teachers, and issues with technology and privacy. The other story occurs on a single day of a high school girl's life. It is a flashback of events and interactions she has had with friends as she tries to avoid being discovered for skipping school on Valentine's Day. The two stories come to a surprising connection at the end.
This story addresses the very real issue teens face right now about technology and how to communicate correctly with friends and classmates. One wrong choice can be shared with hundreds now with a quick click. It also addresses the idea of "fri-enemies" and subtle bullying that can occur in middle school. Stead handles these topics with sensitivity and age appropriateness that I applaud.
I love Rebecca Stead's surprise story twists she uses for her endings and this story was no different. I knew, from my life as a reader, that these two stories would collide at the end but I could not for the life of me figure out who the high school girl was and how she would be connected to the story of the three middle school girls. Once again, as she did with both of her other two novels, I was surprised and delighted to see the way this story unfolded. Stead is a true master of story telling!
I look forward to sharing this story with students in the future! My only regret is I was only able to secure a digital early copy and therefore will struggle with how to share it with my students before it's release. The novel is set for release on August 4th of this year. I recommend this story for all middle school readers.
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