Mackenzie Blue (Book One) by Tina Wells

Published by HarperCollins

Ages: Middle Grade (8-12)

Pages: 224

Publishers Summary: 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!

“We’ve all been there. It’s the first year at a new school, high school to be exact. You’re nervous, anxious, sick and so many other things. I personally decided to slip on a slick of oil in our driveway before leaving for school and ruined my special first day out-fit. It’s enough to make you call in sick, right? Then, throw in the fact that your best friend forever is now on the other side of the world and you have only a hand-full of friends who you can actually say hi to. That’s what Mackenzie is in for. All of that plus a singing competition she’s been dying to win for as long as you can remember. Oh, and someone has stolen her diary as well.

“Mackenzie’s high school years don’t start out the way any of us would like, but truly, who’s did? Her struggle to overcome the newness of high school and the loss of her best friend Ally to Paris France is exactly the thing we all go through. On top of it, she loses her diary mysteriously on the first day of school. Fortunately, it’s not all bad. Mackenzie does have a great friend, Jasper, from the year before and there’s also a new girl, Chloe, who’s recently moved in. So, things aren’t exactly terrible for her.

“This was truly a fun read for me. I read through it, as well as the others in the series in a days time and I thoroughly enjoyed them. One of the great things about reading middle grade fiction is that they bring back so many memories and experiences from that time of life, but with a new perspective. Mackenzie suffered from the same naivety that we all do at that age. Everything is straight forward and there’s hardly any room to think it could possibly be the way our parents have said it is. For Mackenzie, it’s the mysterious disappearance of her diary and who’s to fault. She’s compelled to believe it’s a certain person, when everyone around her can see things differently. I think we still get like this, even as adults, but it’s refreshing to be taken back to that time of life, especially in such a fun way.

“I highly recommend this series for tweens from ages 8 and up. Perfect for the beginning of a new school year, girls especially will find the Mackenzie Blue series to be a great source of comfort as well as a lot of fun. From Mackenzie’s IM’ing messages with her BFF in Paris to her aspirations to be the next Teen Sing competition winner, her story will have something for almost every girl. Mackenzie Blue is a fun mystery with a quirky leading lady that will have tweens asking when the next in the series is coming out.”

The1stdaughter Recommends: Ages 8 and up. The perfect book for girls just starting out in a new school, middle or high school. Also great for helping girls who have recently lost a BFF to a move or something similar.

For the Comments: I shared my horrific first day of high school. How was yours?

Giveaway!

Because my shelves are overflowing and I know there are many kiddos out there who would love to read this series I’m offering up my collection of the first 3 books in the series (Book One, The Secret Crush, and Friends Forever?) to one lucky winner! Don’t get me wrong, I loved this series and will have the other two books reviewed soon, but I wanted someone else to have the opportunity to read these great books as well. So, if you don’t mind my very gently used hardback copies of the first 3 Mackenzie Blue books and live in either the US or Canada, ENTER! The giveaway is open from August 23, 2010 until September 10, 2010 at midnight EST.

This book was provided for review by the publisher, HarperCollins. Thank you so much!
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Posted in Book Reviews, When I Grow Up | 11 Comments »

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