Miss Communication (Babymouse: Tales from the Locker #2)

Holm, Jennifer L. and Matthew. Miss Communication (Babymouse: Tales from the Locker #2)
July 24th 2018 by Random House Books for Young Readers

E ARC provided by publisher Babymouse REALLY wants a smart phone, but her mother doesn't think she is responsible enough. After she manages to carry around the tv remote for two days and not break it, she is deemed responsible enough to get a Whiz Bang Mini and is absolutely thrilled. Her parents lay down some ground rules, but Babymouse is SO excited to get the contacts for all of her friends and use her phone to watch videos of baby koalas... in class. Her phone gets taken away, and also comes to grief, so she has to get a new phone, for which she now owes her brother Squeak. The phone is really, really interesting, and useful for communicating with friends. Babymouse does follow the rules and doesn't answer an unknown text, which later becomes a problem! Babymouse has other things going on in her life, like a report on Ancient Rome that she wants to do on time, making videos to upload to Tubular, and having beauty emergencies, like getting her whiskers threaded.
Strengths: Babymouse has a built in audience, so this is a must purchase for every school everywhere. It's also an excellent cautionary tale about the problems that might come with having a smart phone, which is an experience that is all too common for upper elementary and early middle school students. Babymouse's experiences are spot on, funny, and timely. This covers much more universal concerns than the first book.
Weaknesses: Am I the only one who doesn't particularly LIKE Babymouse?
What I really think: Definitely purchasing, but may wait to get a prebind because the paper-over-board versions hold up so poorly.