This Is All Your Fault, Cassie Parker

Gr 5–8—YA novelist McVoy returns to middle school with this companion to Drive Me Crazy. Fiona is facing the summer before eighth grade without her best friend, Cassie Parker, after an incident that damaged both girls. Social climber Cassie did not intervene on diarist Fiona's behalf when her words were mockingly read aloud on a school bus. At the same time, the reading revealed Fiona's critical assessment of her friend's quest for popularity. Suffering from the loss of her confidant, Fiona is forced to examine her own part in her struggles: missing Cassie, finding new friends, pursuing a crush, and dealing with the realities of divorced parents. Readers will relate to her realization that building and maintaining relationships require effort. (And that getting to know one's crush is sometimes disappointing.) A satisfying amount of drama drives the story, but the book's best feature is Fiona's internal journey, told through narrative, journal entries, texts, plays, and a thinly veiled revenge fantasy composed at creative writing camp. Other appealing attributes include Fiona's sweet relationship with her younger sister, her sheepish love of all things Disney, and the subtle diversity of the cast.