The Port City High series delivers its addictive formula in its fifth title as Shane, Brandi, and Marisa begin the new academic year. Shane is bored and frustrated with school until she sees the new volleyball coach is young, hot, and gets her heart pumping way more than it should. Local rap star Young Dub has his eye on Brandi, but is it on Li'l Flo, too? And Marisa finally gets her quinceañera, but a horrible accident may end her modeling career almost as soon as it begins. It's a lot to deal with, but each girl knows she can count on her friends for support, no matter what. Readers get few breaks from the intense emotions, but the short chapters, multiple narrative voices, and accelerated pacing make for easy reading. Though awkward phrasing occasionally jostles against up-to-the-minute street slang, and only a few of the plotlines are realistic or relatable, this is a quick and fun bit of escapism with a big payoff that is well suited to older reluctant readers.

BFFs Shane, Brandi, and Marisa enter the fall of their junior year at Port City High School in Texas with lots of trials already behind them but more are still to come. Brandi is negotiating her relationship with up-and-coming rapper Young Dub, while Shane is falling for a teacher. In the meantime, Marisa's long-distance relationship with her college boyfriend has stretched too thin, leaving her emotionally vulnerable and partying too hard, with devastating results.The fifth entry in this high-interest, low-vocabulary series maintains focus on the emotions and fashions of the girls in fast-paced individual scenes. Though the issues they deal with tend to be one headline-grabbing situation after another, the girls themselves are very relatable. The unproblematic friendship between an African American, a Hispanic, and a mixed-race girl is especially welcome. The rapid-fire pace sometimes results in multiple scenes that cover essentially the same ground, but as this replaces large amounts of exposition, the repetition can be helpful for poor readers. There are not many, but the flashbacks to fill in the gaps between scenes are choppy and confusing. Enough of the basic facts about the girls' adventures in previous books are presented to both catch up new readers and entice them to read the other volumes. Despite its flaws, this is a worthwhile addition to libraries that wish to increase the diversity of their collections for reluctant teen girl readers.Elizabeth Matson.