IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Uber–good-girl Sammy Wallach did not deserve this.

The white, Jewish girl had been the “poster child for responsibility,” getting good grades, practicing driving, prepping for SATs and AP exams. Yet when her father's company, New Territories Bank Corporation, gets hacked and her father’s racist, sexist emailed remarks exposed, all her plans are thrown off course. With her family's scandal flooding the headlines, she cannot bear the thought of walking the halls of Brooklawne High. The prospect of dealing with her worrisome mother, killjoy little brother, and distant father instead propels her to face the awkward moments anyway. At least her dog, Scruffles, doesn't mind the drama. After the hackers release a second round of leaks, Sammy's journal—and her own narrow-minded remarks—is uploaded for the entire world to read. Abandoned by her best friends and ridiculed by classmates, Sammy struggles to find something to look forward to. Littman ably develops Sammy through her confrontations with her family's secrets. The revelations of her and her dad's prejudices are handled in a way that could be considered either underwhelming or disappointingly realistic: Sammy’s confrontation with her father is uncomfortable, and it doesn’t end in a rallying cry for justice. But the Wallachs are moving in the right direction, though many readers may think at too slow a pace.

An unexpectedly layered story of slow awakening and redemption.