WILL THE REAL RAISIN RODRIGUEZ PLEASE STAND UP?

Still blogging her way through 7th grade at light speed, Raisin now has a boyfriend—cinnamon-scented, tongue-tied CJ—and solid friends in new-ish home Philadelphia and old hometown Berkeley. The blog is strictly invitation-only, posted expressly for her distant friends. But when she goes west to visit her dad, she finds Berkeley changed. Her two old best friends have acquired—gasp—a new friend, who orders the last piece of Fluffernutter pie and fills out “the minidress of the century” in the chest. Indignation reigns, surpassed only by embarrassment when the new girl’s boyfriend innocently mistakes Raisin’s name as “Mervis,” which old readers will know means “vagina.” But Raisin handles it all with aplomb—well, aplomb and frantic blogging, supported by an unexpected ally who IMs her from Philadelphia and appreciates her woe-inspired Christmas song, “Raisin the Red-Eyed Person.” Even when beset by jealousy, Raisin maintains a savvy sense of melodrama, allowing readers to laugh without betraying her. Careful: This blog induces giggles and empathy. (Fiction. 10-13)