Ah, tween-age angst. I remember it well and am so glad I’m old enough to predate social media. Honestly, the middle school and high school years were hard enough without the added element of being networked!

In this Audible story, the narrator is a middle school student who is given the opportunity to interview for a scholarship to a prestigious New York prep school. The whole story is based on the premise that Emily (the narrator) is making a video diary that we (the listeners) just happen to be overhearing. She describes the interview and life after winning a full scholarship where she rooms with the only other scholarship winner, a girl named Alice. When school begins, Emily and Alice encounter many of the typical new-kid-in-school circumstances, including meeting the popular clique. When Alice joins the clique, Emily is suddenly on her own in a way–until Alice goes missing and Emily and the popular kids team up to figure out what happened.

The story has elements of humor and intrigue and mystery. The characters feel older than they are intended to be; I had to keep reminding myself that they are not yet in high school. Yet it’s a clever and captivating listen–and it was fun to try and puzzle out what actually happened to Alice along the way.