A middle school girl digs for the best gossip for her blog and gets plenty of drama in "Rumors from the Boys' Room" by Rose Cooper. Told in diary fashion, complete with spiral notebook and lined-paper look, blogger Sofia digs for all the dirt going on in Middlebrooke Middle School. There's the big leadership class project, the hot new foreign exchange student who just might have a crush on Sofia's best friend, Nona, drama with mean girl Penelope and perfect girl Mia, Sofia's pregnant mom drifting off to sleep in class and having all sort of mood swings and even a few run-ins with Sofia's crush, Andrew! But as Sofia tries to figure out if exchange student Lukas really does like Nona, she finds plenty of material for her blog by hanging outside of the boys' room and hearing some of the conversations within. Are fights really breaking out? Whose project will be the best? Will Sofia's mom have a boy or a girl? All of that drama and more are contained within this book.
For a funny and quirky middle school read, check out Sofia's adventures!
"Rumors from the Boys' Room" is published by Delacorte Press. It is $12.99.
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A "geek" girl finds her life changing when an embarrassing video of her appears on YouTube in "Awkward" by Marni Bates.
MacKenzie is used to being ignored, devoting her time to saving up money for a laptop by tutoring popular Logan in history. But the day she knocks over a football player and tries to "save" him by giving him CPR, her video is uploaded to the Internet for all to see. Her younger brother is horrified and MacKenzie is praying it will all go away - and the next thing she knows, reporters are calling, a band is putting her clip into a music video and she's the latest trending topic! But for a former invisible girl, notoriety is not all it is cracked up to be and she may have to take a hard look on who she really is and who her friends really are. MacKenzie is a likable and grounded heroine, who doesn't let the fame go to her head. This story of geek-gone-good will appeal to teens and the romance is sweet.
"Awkward" is published by Kensington. It is $9.95.
