Star-Crossed

Abby considers herself pretty lucky to have Chelsea for a best friend. Ever since Abby's first day in a new school and new town, Chelsea has been there to give her the inside scoop on how to stay cool and popular while navigating the sixth grade. Now that the spring dance is coming up, Chelsea is determined to ask Nathan, a seventh grader, to go with her, and insists that Abby ask one of his friends so that they can go as a group. Abby hasn't even considered who to ask yet (the dance is girl's choice), but she doesn't even know any of Nathan's friends. How is she supposed to ask one of them to a dance? Abby's life gets a little more interesting when she starts getting daily horoscope updates thanks to this online service that Chelsea signed her up for. Although Abby never believed in things like horoscopes, when it tells her to "go for" an exciting new opportunity, right after her teacher recommends that she run for class treasurer, Abby takes that as a sign, and begins to believe a little more. Thanks to Chelsea's prodding, Abby now needs courage to ask Nathan's friend to the dance, and the horoscopes keep telling her to "take a chance on someone new." While Abby struggles to take that chance, she's sure that the universe is directing her and she now must follow. So why do things seem much more complicated than they need to be? This is the second book by Ms. McCoy that I've read for Scholastic's Candy Apple line, and once again, she's managed to impress me with her excellent characterization and natural dialogue. She makes her books so easy to enjoy. Reviewed by: Allison Fraclose