DOUBLE CLIQUE

This stand-alone follow-up to Clique Here (2021) has a tween girl wondering whether there is a formula for friendship.

After spending last fall trying on a new persona, LB is now focusing on being herself and mending trusted friendships. That includes, of course, her best and longest friendship with Kat. Their connection has been off ever since the debacle of LB’s popularity experiment. LB knows that friendships evolve, but perhaps creating her very own Friendship Formula can heal their rift? A full cast of schoolmates adds drama and complications to this fast-paced middle school story. Among them are the school science club students who were involved in LB’s disastrous popularity experiment and Parker Tanaka, her soccer friend/crush. Courtenay, LB’s former tormentor, returns as well, suspiciously reformed and friendly. Tween readers will recognize all the emotional growing pains, especially the feelings of uncertainty in friendship dynamics. As Kat and LB make new friends who enthusiastically share their respective interests, they are pulled in diverging directions, and LB worries about the compatibility and viability of their long-standing friendship. The first-person narration follows LB’s growth as she makes miscalculations and errors in judgment. While the central storyline focuses primarily on school, Staniszewski strikes a nice balance with LB’s family life too. Most characters read as White.

A feeling-filled novel that underscores changes in friendships and in oneself.