The Zee Files (The Zee Files #1)

In this character-driven series starter spun off from the Mackenzie Blue series, California girl Mackenzie “Zee” Blue Carmichael and her family are moving to London, and red-haired, olive-skinned Zee is headed to year nine at an English boarding school. The posh Hollows Creative Arts Academy boasts a renowned music program as well as a commitment to environmental responsibility, two things close to Zee’s heart, but Zee feels cut off from old friends. Working to stay connected with them, she creates the Zee Files, a private, secure file-sharing system, “like a virtual scrapbook” where “our pictures, audio files, video, homework, songs, artwork, news clips, and stuff can all live in one place.” At the Hollows, meanwhile, she interacts with acquaintances new and old, including blond Jasper, a friend from California; roommate Jameela, a ballerina cued as of South Asian heritage; handsome and wealthy musician Archie, who reads as white; fellow vegetarian Tom, depicted with dark skin; and blond Izzy, a popular YouTuber. Wells’s (Honest June) slice-of-life plotting, told in text message exchanges and a sometimes formal voice, focuses on character introductions over story stakes, holding some arcs’ wrap-ups for the next installment. Occasional b&w illustrations by Miller Jamison (This Is a School) foreground characters and their surroundings. Ages 9–12. (Apr.)