SECOND TO NONE

Middle school life is about to get even more complicated in this stand-alone follow-up to 2022’s High Score.

DJ leads a group of friends who complete jobs for other Ella Fitzgerald Middle School students. Audrey is their charming face, Conor is quick and tech-savvy, and Monty is the gentle muscle. DJ is the mastermind and the one they trust to come up with the best plans. After his latest job, he finds a mysterious note with a broken pencil in his locker. Around the same time, Malik, a friend who was on his team at his old school, reappears, kickstarting a mission like none that DJ’s embarked on before. He quickly finds himself wrapped up in a conspiracy that threatens the very balance of middle school life, and he must forge unlikely alliances with other groups at his school if they stand a chance of solving the mystery before it blows up—and they become collateral damage. Interesting, well-written characters with wildly different personalities engage in witty banter, coming together to create the ultimate middle school team. The mystery draws readers in as it unravels and the pieces fall into place. The satisfying ending ties up all the loose ends without feeling forced or rushed. The first book established that DJ is Black and Conor and Audrey are white; Monty has a French father and an Arabic-speaking mother.

A clever school story with a well-drawn cast and a page-turning mystery.