The Retake by Jen Calonita
Hello from vacation!
While I am away with my family, I have been reading a little, but I will have a ton of reading to catch up on when I return. So while I have the chance, I can catch up on my reviews!
First up, let’s start with The Retake by Jen Calonita. While we wait for 12 to 22 to come out (you can preorder it now) you can read the Instagram version of it now.
You can retake your photos…but what if could redo moments in your life too? With one magical app, Zoe is able to do just that! A smart and funny twist on time travel from New York Times bestselling author Jen Calonita, for fans for Disney’s Zapped and The Swap.
Zoe knows that the only thing harder than middle school is losing a best friend. She and Laura used to do everything together from taking silly selfies, to joining all the same clubs together and even throwing surprise birthday parties for one another.
But lately things have been weird between them. Now Laura will post a photo of her hanging out with other girls before responding to Zoe’s simple text. She doesn’t even want to sit with her at lunch anymore. Zoe is heartbroken–all she wants is for things to go back to normal.
But then a magical app downloads on her phone…and things get even weirder! Suddenly Zoe can travel back in time to moments where her and Laura started drifting apart. It is like a dream come true. A chance for Zoe to mend their friendship.
But as Zoe goes back to moments of middle school drama–sleepover games gone wrong, field trips with cliques and crushes, and school projects that bring on more-than-awkward encounters–she realizes that second chances don’t always go as planned and that sometimes you need to trust the magic of new beginnings.
This is a book that I will be letting my daughter read in the next couple of years. I absolutely loved the messages this story shared. Friendships changing. Moving on vs trying to hold on. Social media playing into everything.
For this middle grade age group, these messages are so important. I already see the friendship drama in my daughter’s class, and I know it will only get worse as she gets older. Knowing that there are stories for my kids to turn to during these times that will help them not feel so alone is comforting, especially as they are reaching those ages where they don’t quite listen to me anymore. Hopefully she can read The Retake and feel a little less alone.
