cover image TMI

TMI

Sarah Quigley, . . Dutton, $16.99 (302pp) ISBN 978-0-525-47908-6

In Quigley's first book, the heroine is an “overshare artist”: Becca cannot keep her thoughts to herself. Living in Pine Prairie, Minn., where “everyone sticks their cold, sniffling noses in each other's business,” Becca finds herself the catalyst of many dramas, especially after she creates a blog, Too Much Information, where under the name Bella, she records her (thinly veiled) fantasy version of her high school life (“Bella's greatest worry is that if she doesn't confess her deepest desires and choicest bits of gossip, she may explode, leaving her parents to clean up the gory mess”). Predictably, Becca's blog doesn't stay secret for long, causing additional turmoil among her friends and enemies alike. While Becca's personality can be over-the-top and some characters feel stereotypical (when her friend Jai comes out to her, Becca thinks, “the kick-ass wardrobe, the faux hawk, the love of show tunes, and the advanced baking skills all point the boy away from the path of heterosexuality”), readers seeking breezy but believable teenage drama will find it in spades. Ages 12–up. (Apr.)