THE CATASTROPHIC FRIENDSHIP FAILS OF LOTTIE BROOKS

An English tween navigates friendships with humor and honesty.

Lottie Brooks, age 12 and 1/2, is back. Her best friend, Molly, has moved back to Brighton from Australia, and Lottie can’t wait for her to meet her new friend, Jess. The three of them will be Kingswood Secondary’s Terrific Threesome. Lottie’s also doing her best not to obsess about Dreamy Daniel, an effort which yields very mixed results. At first it looks like sixth grade will be drama-free, and her frenemies, Amber and Poppy, will leave her alone this year, making school more fun—but Lottie’s life never quite works out as expected. As Molly drifts toward a friendship with Amber, Lottie is left feeling sad and confused. On top of all this, there’s the arrival of new baby sister Bella; annoying younger brother Toby is acting, well, annoying; and her parents are too exhausted to help her much at all. Can Lottie navigate tween friendships, a crush, and self-doubt? Lottie’s hilariously rambling digressions go hand in hand with her endearing self-deprecation and heartwarming revelations about family, friends, and life. Through her witty diary entries, complete with playful stick-figure illustrations and doodles, Lottie offers a relatable perspective on life’s ups and downs, encouraging readers to navigate change and be authentic without ever devolving into a lecture. Most characters present white. The earlier volume established that Jess, who wears her hair in Afro puffs, is of Jamaican descent.

Laugh-out-loud funny.