(2) 4-6 Sixth grader Vanessa is mystified and saddened by the apparent end of her friendship with longtime BFF Bailey--so much so that when she comes across a dilapidated building, once a museum, in her small Ohio town, she decides to make it into her own museum: the museum of Bailey. "Maybe by telling the story of Bailey--by laying it all out clearly behind glass--she would at last be able to understand where it went wrong." When others discover Vanessa's project--Eli from Hebrew school; her older brother, Sterling; and twin classmates Rosalie and Honore--they add their own exhibits. As Vanessa gains more insight into her and Bailey's friendship, "the story of Bailey" changes, with the labels on the items in the Bailey Wing amended to reflect Vanessa's evolving understanding. Meanwhile, the mysterious provenance of a large painting left behind in the museum adds Mixed-Up Files resonance. Other elements woven into the plot include Vanessa's compulsive skin-picking (identified late in the book as excoriation disorder) and worry over the safety of her active-service father. Sales (If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say, rev. 5/18) manages to combine all of this into a nuanced look at friendship, family, self-knowledge, coming of age, and community, with Vanessa a strong-minded and sometimes unlikable but always sympathetic protagonist.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2023

(2) YA White high-school senior Winter faces internet notoriety after a racially offensive post she means as an ironic joke. Winter's reactions to the perceived injustice are squirm-inducing but feel honest to her character. Readers willing to give Winter a chance at redemption will find a thoughtful coming-of-age story that underlines the power of empathy, community, and believing in one's own capacity for positive change.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018

(2) 4-6 In World War II England, best friends Lottie and Kitty are kidnapped to force Lottie's scientist father to reveal the secrets of time travel. Lottie escapes through a time portal--leaving Kitty behind. In 2013 Wisconsin, Lottie searches for answers about her friend's fate. Sales handles time travel lightly, allowing her to explore perspectives on time and aging without getting bogged down in details.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2016

(2) YA Seventeen-year-old Arden can't stop reading Peter's blog; she thinks he understands her in a way others don't. Arden and best friend Lindsey drive to NYC to find him--what follows is a wild night involving Peter himself, who isn't the person Arden imagined. Alternating poignancy and humor, Sales imparts subtle wisdom about truth in storytelling, asserting independence, and what it means to love someone.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2015

(2) YA After a disastrous attempt to make friends her first day of sophomore year, Elise cuts herself with an X-Acto knife, a "practice" attempt at suicide. Seven months later, she happens upon a weekly underground dance club, a discovery that changes her life. Lively, authentic dialogue and a bevy of fully developed supporting characters complete this sardonic, frequently hilarious, insightful celebration of individuality.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2013

(2) YA Every summer Chelsea's family works as living history interpreters at Colonial Essex Village. Things get awkward when she traitorously falls for a boy working at the village's rival across the street, Civil War Reenactment-land. The story, narrated in Chelsea's acerbically funny voice, is filled with specifics about Colonial life (and the lives of the interpreters) and meditations on history, memory, heartbreak, and love.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2011

(3) YA Violet's best friend Katie, a model student, is tired of being perfect. Certain that there is more to life than money and grades, Katie begins to distance herself from the girls' elite prep school world--and from Violet. Readers will sympathize with both Violet's desire to keep life the same and Katie's need to change and grow. Violet's wry narration enlivens the plot.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor