Meet Mackenzie Blue, aka Zee She has it all—smarts, talent, humor, and style. . . . Is it enough to survive middle school? Countdown to a 7th Grade Meltdown 1. Your BFF moves away. 2. Someone steals your diary and reveals your deepest secrets—to the entire class. 3. You have one chance to become a rock star and one chance to totally blow it. Guess what!? All three happened to me! School's a disaster already. Don't get me wrong—I love Brookdale Academy and I have a fabulous crew of friends. (At least, I think I do.) But, if I'm going to survive, I need all the help I can get!
Tween readers will love following the adventures of Mackenzie "Zee" Blue. California girl Zee is an expert shopper, plays the guitar and writes songs, and makes purses and jewelry. She knows how it feels to have a huge crush. And she knows how to be a good friend and keeps in touch via texts and emails. Tween fans of the Dork Diaries and Diary of a Wimpy Kid series will love the Mackenzie Blue books. This collection includes books 1 through 5. Mackenzie Blue: Meet Mackenzie Blue, aka Zee. She has it all—smarts, talent, humor, and style. Is it enough to survive middle school? Countdown to a 7th Grade Meltdown. . . Mackenzie Blue #2: The Secret Crush: Mackenzie Blue has a crush! But how can she get Landon—the cutest boy in school—to notice her? The class's new rock-and-roll musical is her chance. Between her crush, the musical, and her friends—not to mention school work—Zee is torn in a thousand different directions. With all the real-life drama going on, will she lose sight of what's really important? Mackenzie Blue #3: Friends Forever?: Zee and the rest of her class from the Brookdale Academy are off on a camping trip to compete in an environmental scavenger hunt. Zee is extra psyched because her best friend, Ally, is visiting from Paris. It should be fabulous having all her friends in one place, but for some reason everyone is fighting! Mackenzie Blue #4: Mixed Messages: Zee and her friends from Brookdale Academy launch Bluetopia, a fab social media site—which is perfect, because Zee's band, The Beans, is about to have its biggest show ever. Everyone is talking about it on Bluetopia. At least it would be perfect if a glitch in the Bluetopia system didn't threaten to ruin the show—and Zee's life! Mackenzie Blue #5: Double Trouble: Mackenzie Blue is a star! Or she will be . . . as soon as she gets the part of an aspiring singer on a new TV pilot! But juggling auditions and the rest of her life turns out to be harder than Zee thought. Zee's friends are helping her hold everything together. But Zee doesn't like having to bail on plans—and her friends—to run to another audition. Is being a star worth it?
Fans of the bestselling Mackenzie Blue books will love this spin-off series that follows Zee's new adventures across the pond—in London! MOM'S CHOICE AWARDS® Gold Recipient 2021 American Fiction Awards Finalist, Young Adult category Winner, 2022 IndieReader Discovery Awards Mackenzie ("Zee") Blue Carmichael has never eaten fish 'n' chips, never slept away from home longer than a few nights, and knows nothing about London. But after her family relocates for her dad's new job, 13-year-old Zee leaves her old life in California behind for a new one in England. Zee lands in London and at her new boarding school, The Hollows, hoping to find new friends and jump-start her music career. All of that proves difficult between a chilly roommate, a BFF who's gone MIA, and distractions from the poshest—and cutest—student in her grade. Will Zee thrive in her new environment, and will London end up not being so bad after all? What readers are saying about The Zee Files: ★★★★★ “My daughter read this in just over a day!” ★★★★★ “Got this for my daughter for her 10th birthday! We read it together and absolutely LOVED the book!” ★★★★★ “We gave this book to my niece, and she loved it! She can't wait to see what happens next in the second book.”
Magnolia Woodson wants nothing more than to get her and her sister, Rose, out of the pitifully small, clamming-obsessed Oregon town that hates them—she just doesn’t know how. Forced to put up with the snide comments and hateful looks the townspeople throw at them, Mags thinks she’s destined to pay for the horrible, awful thing her mom did—and that she’s left her and Rose to deal with—until the day she dies. But when a nationwide televised dance competition posts tryouts in nearby Portland, Mags’s best friend, George, says they have to go and audition. Not only have they spent the past fourteen years of their lives dancing side-by-side, dreaming of a day just like this, but also it could be Mags’s chance of a lifetime—a chance to win the grand-prize money and get her and Rose out of Summerland, a chance to do the thing she loves most with everyone watching, a chance to show the town that she’s not—and has never been—a “no-good Woodson girl,” like her mother. But will the competition prove too steep? And will Mags be able to retain her friendship with George as they go head-to-head in tryouts? Mags will have to learn that following her dreams may mean changing her life forever.
Fifth grader Kate (the Great) is back in business. Specifically the food-drive business, as she, Brooke, and (odd) Nora try to win the Junior Guides competition. But lately their trio has felt imbalanced, with Kate on the outside. It doesn’t help that the American Revolution unit at school is turning everyone against each other. Armed with her smarts, an artillery of doodles, and maybe even some advice from Eleanor Roosevelt, Kate must find a way to keep her friends, old and new. "A breezy, enjoyable excursion...A zippy little visit with a likable 10-year-old." -Kirkus Reviews
Seventeen-year-old high school senior Shannon Card needs money. And lots of it. She's been admitted to Wellesley, but her dad just lost his job, and somehow she has to come up with a year of tuition herself. But Shannon's dream of making big bucks waitressing at the local casino, the Collosio, disappears faster than a gambler's lucky streak. Her boss is a tyrant, her coworker is nuts, and her chances of balancing a tray full of drinks while wearing high-heeled shoes are slim to none. Worse, time is running out, and Shannon hasn't made even half the money she'd hoped. When Shannon receives a mysterious invitation to join Aces Up, a secret network of highly talented college poker players, at first she thinks No way. She has enough to worry about: keeping her job, winning the coveted math scholarship at school, and tutoring her secret crush, Max. But when Shannon musters up the nerve to kiss Max and he doesn't react at all, the allure of Aces Up and its sexy eighteen-year-old leader, Cole, is suddenly too powerful to ignore. Soon Shannon's caught up in a web of lies and deceit that makes worrying about tuition money or a high school crush seem like kid stuff. Still, when the money's this good, is the fear of getting caught reason enough to fold? This fun, sexy, recession-proof story is a bubbly summer read with surprising depth—great for fans of Sarah Mlynowski.
A “funny, realistic, heartfelt, satiric, and unpredictable” novel about a group of big-city teens with mind-blowing powers (Ned Vizzini, New York Times–bestselling author). It was just an ordinary day at Manhattan’s Bloomberg High School. Socially awkward Olivia Byrne was stressing about her upcoming speech in public speaking class. Cooper Miller was flying high over the Yankees’ win from the night before. Mackenzie Feldman, Cooper’s girlfriend, was dreading the class’s upcoming flu vaccines because of her overwhelming fear of needles. Little did Mackenzie know that the shot would be the least of her worries . . . Now—after getting immunized—most of the students in homeroom 10B have the power to hear everyone’s thoughts: catty remarks, who’s crushing on whom, and what their teachers and parents really think about them. Once the students figure out what’s going on, the question becomes: What do they do with their new superpower? Use it for good . . . or for evil? Because world domination is on the menu . . . “A tour-de-force comic narration that will leave you gasping in awe—if you ever catch your breath from laughing.” —E. Lockhart, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of We Were Liars “Smart and frequently hilarious . . . Filled with heartbreak, hilarity, and some brutal truths, Mlynowski’s novel will leave readers thinking about the gaps between our private and public selves and the lies we tell others and ourselves.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Hilarious, moving, and utterly ingenious.” —Robin Wasserman, author of Girls on Fire
Mackenzie Blue is a star! Or she will be . . . as soon as she gets the part of an aspiring singer on a new TV pilot! But juggling auditions and the rest of her life turns out to be harder than Zee thought. Zee's friends are helping her hold everything together. But Zee doesn't like having to bail on plans—and her friends—to run to another audition. Is being a star worth it? Fans of the Dork Diaries will snap up the fifth book in this tween illustrated series about a twelve-year-old girl trying to survive middle school.
For every athlete or sports fanatic who knows she's just as good as the guys. This is for fans of The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen, Grace, Gold, and Glory by Gabrielle Douglass and Breakaway: Beyond the Goal by Alex Morgan. The summer before Caleb and Tessa enter high school, friendship has blossomed into a relationship . . . and their playful sports days are coming to an end. Caleb is getting ready to try out for the football team, and Tessa is training for cross-country. But all their structured plans derail in the final flag game when they lose. Tessa doesn’t want to end her career as a loser. She really enjoys playing, and if she’s being honest, she likes it even more than running cross-country. So what if she decided to play football instead? What would happen between her and Caleb? Or between her two best friends, who are counting on her to try out for cross-country with them? And will her parents be upset that she’s decided to take her hobby to the next level? This summer Caleb and Tessa figure out just what it means to be a boyfriend, girlfriend, teammate, best friend, and someone worth cheering for. “A great next choice for readers who have enjoyed Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s Dairy Queen and Miranda Kenneally’s Catching Jordan.”—SLJ “Fast-paced football action, realistic family drama, and sweet romance…[will have] readers looking for girl-powered sports stories…find[ing] plenty to like.”—Booklist “Tessa's ferocious competitiveness is appealing.”—Kirkus Reviews “[The Football Girl] serve[s] to illuminate the appropriately complicated emotions both of a young romance and of pursuing a dream. Heldring writes with insight and restraint.”—The Horn Book
