Confessions of a High School Disaster

February 1, 2017
The chronicles of Chloe Snow's journey from self-absorbed high school freshman to slightly less self-absorbed sophomore.Fourteen-year-old Chloe is technology-addicted and obsessed with getting her first kiss. Her mom has trotted off to Mexico for four months to write, leaving Chloe and her dad behind, which she first presents with nonchalance in her diary. Many of Chloe's relationships begin to change around the time she unexpectedly gets the lead in the school musical. It becomes clear that her mom is not coming back as promised. She becomes increasingly distant from her best friend in favor of a new one, and she develops a naively close relationship with a senior boy who has a girlfriend, which ultimately brings on a painful barrage of cyberbullying. When Chloe is forced to acknowledge some uncomfortable truths about her parents' relationship, she is startled into seeing her own behavior more clearly as well. The narrative is told through Chloe's diary, immersing readers in her singular perspective, though a few long passages are much too detailed to be credible as diary entries. What feels like token diversity among minor characters and Chloe's passing acknowledgment of her own privilege as a straight, white, middle-class girl come across as superficial, though accurately reflective of life in many mostly white communities like hers. Awkwardness, drama, and a pinch of burgeoning self-awareness. (Fiction. 12-15)

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February 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Chloe Snow wants nothing more than to be kissed by New Year's Eve. She is a typical high school freshman, ready to take on the challenges of leaving middle school behind, and her dad is predictably embarrassing. Her mom, however, is another story: she has recently left for Mexico in order to concentrate on herself and her writing. At the pool, right before school starts, Chloe catches the eye of the school bad boy-never mind that he already has a girlfriend. But when she gets cast in the leading role of the school's musical, instead of the most popular girl, the drama really begins. Writing in a diary format, Chastain captures a spot-on teen voice that would feel at home in an updated version of the film Mean Girls. Underlying the humor and angst of high school life, though, are Chloe's ache for her mother and her confusion and anger about her parents' relationship. Readers will hope for the heroine's continued adventures in future volumes.

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