(3) 4-6 Sew Zoey series. Promising young designer and fashion blogger Zoey is busier than ever now that she's launched an online store. So when she agrees to make dresses for two friends, she finds herself stretched pretty thin. Though unexpected (but tame) obstacles arise, Zoey's supportive friends and family help her through them. Sketches of Zoey's designs lead each chapter in this undemanding, upbeat series installment.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(4) 4-6 Find Your Talent series. General directions guide readers through establishing a web presence. Anecdotal snippets about already established and popular sites add interest to the sometimes contradictory text (in Blog: "'wallpapers'...can make text difficult to read" and "brighten up the look of your blog by using...'wallpapers'"). The busy collage-style layout may be appealing to kids willing to scrutinize the pages. Some of the advice seems like common sense. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Find Your Talent titles: Make a Podcast and Start a Blog.

Reviewer: Allison Cole

(3) 4-6 Genie's life is changing. Her dad is dating, her best friend is drifting away, and puberty issues are cropping up at home and at school. To her surprise, she's elected to write the fifth-grade class's blog, focusing on wishes, hopes, and dreams. Genie's comfort in her own skin grows throughout this sincere novel, and her voice is appealingly genuine.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(4) YA Told through the blogs of soccer star/high school journalist Carla and quarterback Jerry, the cautionary novel delves into the challenges of sports injuries. Carla reveals her own injury struggles then investigates and exposes issues surrounding contact sports and head injuries. The sports physiology and concussion information is engaging and thought-provoking, but the blogging format with stream-of-consciousness writing may wear readers down.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(4) YA Ivy series. With Rina Onur. Now in the spring of her freshman year at Harvard, Callie is determined to identify the "Ivy Insider" who framed her before she gets expelled. Meanwhile, she pines for Gregory, who's disappeared. While readers won't be surprised when the Insider's identity is finally revealed, they'll nevertheless enjoy the continued accounts of Callie and her upper-echelon friends' hijinks and debauchery.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(3) 4-6 When it looks like new-girl Hayley is making friends with mean-girl Modessa, Yaz steps in, hoping Hayley will choose her flower friends instead. Meanwhile, all of the girls are keeping secrets these days, creating friction within the group. In their fourth outing, Myracle's diverse and distinctive fifth graders show how complicated lives can be--and how important friendship is--at their age.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(3) YA Freesia's world is perfect: sunny weather, extensive wardrobe, no homework. But when she discovers that "Freesia" is an avatar in a virtual reality experiment, she's forced to contend with a real world she barely remembers. Snow contrasts the flawless, eerily possible "Bubble World" with a messy, unattractive, but still appealing reality, raising interesting questions about the nature of technology and truth.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(3) 4-6 Sew Zoey series. Illustrated by Nancy Zhang. When the new middle-school principal banishes school uniforms, burgeoning fashion designer Zoey is thrilled. Her fashion blog gains a dedicated following, and the principal even asks Zoey to design a dress for the school auction. The emphasis on creativity, community, and support, combined with Zoey's positive attitude, make this fashion series' opener an inspirational read. Black-and-white garment sketches start each chapter.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(3) 4-6 Sew Zoey series. Illustrated by Nancy Zhang. Twelve-year-old Zoey, fashion designer and blogger, is excited to enter a design contest and works hard to meet the deadline while also coping with friendship trouble (Pins). Zoey creates outfits for Spirit Week, but mean comments on her blog worry her (Stitches). These upbeat installments continue the nice emphasis on friendship, ambition, and creativity. Black-and-white garment sketches open each chapter. Review covers these Sew Zoey titles: On Pins and Needles and Stitches and Stones.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(3) 4-6 Sew Zoey series. Illustrated by Nancy Zhang. Twelve-year-old Zoey, fashion designer and blogger, is excited to enter a design contest and works hard to meet the deadline while also coping with friendship trouble (Pins). Zoey creates outfits for Spirit Week, but mean comments on her blog worry her (Stitches). These upbeat installments continue the nice emphasis on friendship, ambition, and creativity. Black-and-white garment sketches open each chapter. Review covers these Sew Zoey titles: On Pins and Needles and Stitches and Stones.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(4) YA Erin Kavanagh has lots on her mind: friends, boys, parents, and college acceptances--but that's just the beginning. When Erin gives an ex-friend faulty advice via her anonymous "Miss Fortune Cookie" blog, things spin out of control. Though the plot is convoluted, and Erin's identity struggle as an Irish girl in San Francisco's Chinatown could be more developed, the premise is timely and entertaining.

Reviewer: Ariel Baker-Gibbs

(3) YA "Superflirt" Dee's summer is supposed to be about harmless flirting at her family's campground. But when Dee's family is sued by the mother of ex-boyfriend Blaine's current girlfriend, things change. Suddenly Dee is scheming and joining forces with surprising people. This book's cover and title will mislead readers expecting purely lighthearted romance--provocative themes of deceit and manipulation are front-and-center.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(4) YA Food poisoning takes a deadly turn when Scarlett accidentally offs herself (and her family) trying to avoid an upcoming school trip. She just can't do anything right, including killing her friends so they can join her in the afterlife. This grim yet humorous Gothic tale relies heavily on gimmicky design elements: ghostly blog posts, comic-like illustrations, and variable fonts and layouts.

Reviewer: April Mazza

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Doug Holgate. Fictional blog entries (some that originally appeared in Mad magazine) span Tad's year of comical middle-school mishaps. Tad shares his thoughts on school, shaving, and other events. Filled with random quips ("tater tot is a bad name for a food, because it suggests that you're eating potato babies"), the book reads more like standup than story, but parts are very funny. Black-and-white cartoons illustrate the text.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(4) YA Wise-cracking fifteen-year-old Jay Baker's world is disrupted when his parents announce they're going to separate. While he and his sister deal with the fallout, Jay must also navigate his own love triangle and escalating confrontations with his nemesis. Though Jay's pun- and pop-culture-saturated narrative voice grows tiresome, the characters and conflicts are nicely developed.

Reviewer: Randy Ribay

(3) YA In this companion to Spoiled, Brooke, daughter of a movie megastar, hires female classmate Max to be her ghost-blogger; "Open Brooke" is bitingly observant on celeb lifestyle--and wildly successful. But Max can't stay behind the scenes forever, especially once the blog hooks the interest of her crush. With her sass and spunk, Max outshines the other characters in this witty follow-up.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(4) 4-6 The summer before seventh grade, best friends Sofia and Nona are headed to camp together. Sofia keeps up her blogging notebook detailing their summer of pranks, crushes, and mishaps. Undeveloped characters and unfinished plot lines take away from an otherwise rollicking and realistic look at summer camp. The handwritten format with simple sketches keeps the pace up-tempo.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(3) YA Josh must decide: does he go back in time and alter history to save his father, or does he remain in the present to rescue his kidnapped mother and best friends from the Sect of Huracan? The mysterious Bracelet of Itzamna may provide the means for time travel, but time is running out in this taut end-of-the-world series entry.

Reviewer: Nancy Hull

(2) YA Juniors Lita and Adam were good friends until Adam tromped onto Lita's literary turf. Aspiring novelist Lita secretly writes an advice blog as "Miz Fitz." Chapter-opening Ann Landers–style exchanges reveal the advice book Adam's writing—the one blatantly imitating Miz Fitz. Shifting between Lita's and Adam's points of view, this is a frank, funny account of the battle of the sexes.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2012

(3) 4-6 Changes are in store for the girls in this third Flower Power book: Violet's mom is home from the mental hospital; Milla wants to save a classmate from going down the mean-girl path; Yaz longs to step out of her comfort zone; and Katie-Rose worries about everyone maturing and changing. Myracle continues to thoughtfully capture the complex feelings of tweens.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor