Saturday Morning Cartoons: Double Trouble

Wells, Tina. Double Trouble (Mackenzie Blue #5)
June 24th 2014 by HarperCollins

Mackenzie is excited about the twins that her mother is going to have very soon, and wants to throw baby shower for her mother after she finds out that showers are usually not given for third and fourth babies. Her mother doesn't tell her not to, so Mackenzie decides it will be a Baby Bash and gets her musical group, The Beans, to play at it. She wants it to be different from other baby showers, but when her father lets her know that she is being considered for a part in a television show, her time gets taken up in photo shoots and acting lessons. This causes stress among the group for several reasons-- even though Zee was "discovered" with The Beans, they don't have an audition, they are working on special songs for the shower that Zee doesn't consider original, and there is a lot of middle school girl crush drama going on surrounding Landon and Jasper. Not only is Zee busy with the shower and auditions, but she has to work on science fair, too! Things go smoothly enough that the shower does take place, but Zee gets a call to go to an audition right then. She thinks about it, but then other, more pressing concerns arise, and she decides that her friends and family are more important than a television career.
Strengths: This is a good alternative read for fans of The Dork Diaries. There are enough pictures, a private school setting, and lots of middle school drama. Add to that every middle schoolers' dream of getting on a television show, and this will be a popular quick pick.
Weaknesses: There were a lot of improbably things in this. The school helps with a musical group of this type? Zee's busy father is able to do his work on the road and take her to auditions? Her mother lets her plan a baby shower? These books are mainly paper-over-board, although this latest one I bought is a Paw Prints prebind. They are not meant to last.
What I really think: I'm all for fun, fluffy stories, but this was too unrealistic and overprivileged for my tastes. Even the pictures were sort of annoying, since everyone was incredibly beautiful, well-dressed, and predominately white.