Frustrated with the censorship she encounters writing for the school newspaper, Zebby collaborates with friend, Amr, to launch an underground, online newspaper that will expose the truth about Truman School. Zebby envisions a site where students can discuss the new math curriculum, but the newspaper quickly morphs into online gossip when someone posts a malicious photo of Lilly, a popular eighth-grader. Determined to respect free speech and make the site everyone's newspaper, Zebby and Amr decide not to delete the post because It isn't any big deal. Told in shifting first-person narratives, the ramifications of cyber-bullying become clear as the story unfolds. Small icons, such as a crown for social queen Hayley and a reporter's notebook for Zebby, appear at the beginning of each narrative, helping to keep the multiple voices distinct. The characters are often painted with broad, flat strokes, particularly the popular girls, resulting in a book that reads like an after-school special ut a especially timely and relevant one.

After eighth-graders Zebby and Amr launch an online newspaper to generate articles more controversial than those "that made you go rah, rah, isn't our school great?" an anonymous student uses the website to cyber-bully a classmate. Zebby, Amr, and a handful of other kids (in-crowd and outcast) alternate as narrators; all learn overly loud-and-clear lessons about bullying and free speech.

It all begins when Zebby quits the Truman Middle School Bugle in protest over the newspaper advisor's refusal to let her say anything negative about the school. Zebby and her friend Amr then put together an alternative website: www.truthabouttruman.com. After the site catches on with the popular kids, Zebby and Amr are off and running, writing critical articles and publishing comics and opinion pieces by anonymous students. Events take an unfortunate turn when someone begins adding malicious posts regarding a popular girl who was once a friend of Zebby and Amr's, and things get worse when she is untruthfully outed as a lesbian. Told from multiple perspectives as a compilation of the points of view of all involved, this is an exercise in ethics and morality, particularly pertinent given the power of the Internet. Though sometimes a bit pedantic, this is a realistic portrayal of the negative influence of bullying, cliques, and peer pressure as they might affect tweens inside and outside the online world. (Fiction. 10-13)

Gr 5-8 Told not to write anything that would get the administration riled up, Zebby Bower becomes fed up and quits as editor of the school newspaper. Soon after, she and her friend Amr begin their own online newspaper, one that they hope will provide a true voice to the students of Truman Middle. It takes off, but in an unfortunate direction. When anonymous posts about popular Lilly Clarke start to get vicious, calling her a homo, a lesbo, and more, the devastated girl goes missing, and the site's creators scramble to figure out what to do. Chapters alternate among Zebby, Amr, and the students surrounding the scheme to ruin Lilly, each one providing a unique perspective as the action unfolds. With anonymous entries that subtly build suspense, the events brought about by this 21st-century slam book cause the characters to examine how the things they say and do can be hurtful to others without even realizing it. The story moves at a good pace and the timely subject of cyberbullying will be relevant to readers. The language is accessible and the students' voices ring true. This thought-provoking read is sure to initiate discussion. Bethany A. Lafferty, Las Vegas-Clark County Library, NV

Zebby and Amr create www.truthabouttruman.com to share things about Truman Middle School that would not be allowed in the school newspaper. The idea is to let anyone post anything they want, as long as it is the truth as they believe it to be. Things get out of control when someone anonymously uses the Web site to start rumors about another student. Readers will recognize the characters in the book-Hayley, the leader of the popular group; Lilly and Brianna, her hangers-on; Reece, the football star; Sara and Trevor, the social outcasts. The story is told through posts by each character, telling his or her version of what happened at the school. The anguish of middle school shows through in the posts. Even the popular kids are insecure. The voices are real, revealing the emotional struggles of middle school students. Zebby and Amr learn to be responsible editors of the site. The bully finds that taking Lilly down is not as satisfying as he thought it would be. They all learn that there are real consequences to actions that may not seem so important at the time. Readers might learn to empathize with those whom they might be tempted to tease. The story would be a good vehicle for starting a discussion about bullying and the effect on all students in the school.-Deborah L. Dubois.