Wilderness Hacks by Joslin Brorsen

 

Sadie doesn't really want to win a survivalist contest, she's just entering to help our her little brother, Silas, who is a big fan of a 13-year-old YouTuber named Radley Shaw. Radley posts content of himself surviving in the wild, eating live bugs, and reviews of outdoorsy equipment. When Sadie wins and the prize to go rafting with Radley, she tries to bring Silas along but it's against the rules. Sadie actually does know something about survival, and she senses that Radley isn't as great at survival as his influencer status might suggest. The two kids set off on their rafting trip with a wilderness guide. It doesn't take long for a catastrophic disaster to flood the entire valley, leaving Sadie and Radley alone and stranded and lucky to be alive. Wilderness Hacks is their story of trying to overcome all of their bickering and annoyances in order to save their lives and get back to their (imperfect) families. This survival story will probably appeal to outdoorsy kids, but it lacks the edginess to feel like a middle school book to me. I think the sweet spot for this book will be 3rd-5th graders looking for survival and action stories.   

Everyone Wants to Know by Kelly Loy Gilbert

 

Honor Lo is a reality TV star who grew up with her every move being filmed for a show called Lo and Behold featuring her and her four siblings. Her parents are influencers who care mainly about their public image as the perfect family--but this book begins with a bombshell. Honor's father is moving out and their perfect marriage is facing an image crisis. Honor has a lot going on. She is betrayed by her best friends and her mother moves the family to a new town. Honor is desperately trying to keep her siblings together and orchestrate a family reunion that will reunite her parents. Nothing is working until the family gets devastating news about her college-aged sister, which may (or may not) bring the Lo family together again. With all the family drama, Honor has a love interest back home who may just force her out of her highly regulated life and into a relationship of her own making. This book got great reviews, but I had mixed feelings. Things I liked: The world of social media influencers was inherently interesting--the parents' narcissism and the publicists swarming was kind of fascinating. Also the sibling relationships and Honor trying to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders were entirely realistic. Things I didn't like--I found the plot surrounding her sister's tragedy to be entirely unbelievable. It just couldn't have happened. The parents were one-dimensional. I didn't feel a connection to Honor's new boyfriend (and I think I was supposed to be rooting for them). Finally, some briefly mentioned sexual encounters seemed way out of character for Honor and made the book less appropriate for middle school readers for no real reason. All this being said, it is still a compelling book about the world of media influencers and I do recommend it to YA readers who like family drama and relationships.