SPIN THE BOTTLE

Seventh-grader Phoebe Hart desperately wants to be an actress, so she overcomes her self-consciousness enough to join the Drama Club, landing a minor role in Guys and Dolls. Temporarily blinded to the obvious flaws in her ninth-grade acting idols Mia and Delilah, Phoebe pulls away from best friend Harper. Further complicating her life is the “walking coma” Phoebe plunges into upon meeting the “Object of My Affection [OOMA],” Tucker. Caught in a power struggle between Delilah and Mia, a confused Phoebe’s allegiances keep shifting, while she nervously obsesses about the Drama Club’s traditional Opening Night game of Spin the Bottle. Kimmel perfectly blends the humor and angst experienced by most young teens in Phoebe’s highly entertaining voice. Readers will cheer her hard-won steps toward disregarding peer pressure even as she continues crushing on Tucker, whose “lock of hair that brushed one eyebrow belonged in the Museum of Boy-tropolitan Art.” In the end, she finds self-confidence, romance and comfort on the stage. Great fun, with many laugh-out-loud truths. (Fiction. 10-14)