This Is All Your Fault, Cassie Parker

Starred review from February 15, 2016
When Fiona's diary is stolen by the most popular girl in seventh grade, she braces herself for the worst summer ever. Fiona and Cassie obsess over their secret crushes and tell each other everything. Well, almost everything. Fiona confides her occasional frustrations with Cassie to her diary, along with details about the boys they like. But when Kendra, the ringleader of a clique of mean girls, takes Fiona's diary and reads it aloud on the bus, Cassie does nothing to stop her. Worse, Cassie stops speaking to Fiona and begins to hang out with the mean girls, leaving Fiona to face her classmates' teasing about the diary entries alone. The end of the school year brings some relief, but how will Fiona survive the long summer break without her best friend? To top it all off, Fiona is annoyed by the growing presence of her dad's girlfriend, Jennifer, in their lives. Told in the endearing voice of a wise-beyond-her-years 12-year-old with a knack for self-reflection, this deeply engrossing story offers gentle lessons about the shifting sands of friendship and family and not always getting what you want. A strong subplot features a realistic portrayal of Fiona's affluent, African-American, co-parenting family. Readers who enjoyed McVoy's Drive Me Crazy (2015) will welcome this companion novel. A smart, heartwarming novel about the ups and downs of family and friendship. (Fiction. 9-13)

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 1, 2016

Gr 5-8-YA novelist McVoy returns to middle school with this companion to Drive Me Crazy. Fiona is facing the summer before eighth grade without her best friend, Cassie Parker, after an incident that damaged both girls. Social climber Cassie did not intervene on diarist Fiona's behalf when her words were mockingly read aloud on a school bus. At the same time, the reading revealed Fiona's critical assessment of her friend's quest for popularity. Suffering from the loss of her confidant, Fiona is forced to examine her own part in her struggles: missing Cassie, finding new friends, pursuing a crush, and dealing with the realities of divorced parents. Readers will relate to her realization that building and maintaining relationships require effort. (And that getting to know one's crush is sometimes disappointing.) A satisfying amount of drama drives the story, but the book's best feature is Fiona's internal journey, told through narrative, journal entries, texts, plays, and a thinly veiled revenge fantasy composed at creative writing camp. Other appealing attributes include Fiona's sweet relationship with her younger sister, her sheepish love of all things Disney, and the subtle diversity of the cast.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.