Starred Review Moving from Chicago to Madison, Wisconsin, for eighth grade is an unwanted change for bookish Anna Hunt, but at least she has it better than Rachel Riley. Anna can't spot anything that would make her classmate such an outcast, but after doing a little digging, Anna realizes that Rachel used to be extremely popular. Why was she utterly alone now? What happened to Rachel Riley? This question crawls under Anna's skin, ultimately becoming the focus of her application (a mock podcast) for a youth podcasting summit led by her hero, investigative journalist Mimi Miller. What begins as a look into bullying and the social politics of middle school expands into a revealing study of sexual harassment in the ways that "minor" incidents can both be normalized and have significant negative effects on victims. Told largely through embedded emails, texts, and interview transcripts, the novel pulls in a variety of adult and student perspectives as Anna follows clues and endeavors not to become shunned herself. She emerges as a complex protagonist, whose struggles over leaving her friends and Polish community in Chicago are threaded throughout, as is the war raging between her sense of justice and introverted nature. An empowering and empathetic companion to Barbara Dee's Maybe He Just Likes You (2019) and Brigit Young's The Prettiest (2020).

Gr 5 Up —As East Middle School's newest student, Anna Hunt has noticed that her classmate, Rachel Riley, is treated like a social outcast. When she is assigned an un-essay project for her Social Issues class, Anna decides to investigate why. Inspired by her favorite podcaster, Mimi Miller, and hoping to land a spot in her summer camp, Anna begins to dig into the past year, recording her process as a podcast. Her findings reveal a "game" wherein boys received points for "slapping girls' butts," which somehow led to a fire that canceled an end-of-year dance and is the reason for Rachel's predicament. When the harassing game is reignited this year in the form of snapping bra straps, and Anna herself is targeted, she's inspired to incite social change through her project. This book is incredibly relevant and empowering for readers and would serve as a powerful conversation starter. Anna is a determined yet vulnerable protagonist, who eventually realizes that change starts with her. Swinarski's writing is compelling and multifaceted, using traditional chapters, letters, emails, and text messages to tell the story. Tackling themes of friendship, betrayal, and harassment beautifully, while keeping them accessible to middle schoolers, this book will resonate with readers, and will inspire them to speak up about unjust situations. VERDICT A necessary purchase for all collections serving middle school readers. Hand to fans of Barbara Dee's Maybe He Just Likes You .—Amy McInerney

How did the most popular girl in school become persona non grata?New kid and aspiring podcaster Anna Hunt could have taken the easy route for her social issues assignment about any subject that was important to her. But somehow Anna always comes back to the question, "What happened to Rachel Riley?" Does it have anything to do with the mysterious game the boys have been playing? Anna's investigation unfolds in emails, text threads, personal narratives, articles, and voice recordings as she asks difficult questions, struggles to make friends, and questions how and if the world can change for the better. Ultimately, Anna's un-essay explores sexual harassment between middle school peers, specifically boys giving each other points for slapping girls' butts and snapping their bra straps. As in Barbara Dee's Maybe He Just Likes You (2019), there's social pressure to stay silent and laugh it all off as a joke. Given the central focus on teasing apart this issue, it's understandable that many of the characters lack depth. Anna's mother emigrated from Poland, and Anna is bilingual; some supporting characters have names that point to non-European heritage. With its highlighting of fun and educational facts, the writing style and subject matter make this a good fit for classroom or book club reading and discussion.A useful addition to the pool of middle-grade books about sexual harassment at school. (Fiction. 10-13)