Confessions From the Group Chat

Visit the Sunday Salon over at Readerbuzz. I rarely post personal things, but it's been a long, cold week. School was canceled every day after we got 14" of snow on Sunday and temperatures hovered around zero. My dog, Leo, was very happy.

Read fifty middle grade books and wrote reviews. Had I known we'd have the entire week off, I would have gotten some crafts out, but... inertia won! 

I usually walk a lot outside, but it was too cold, and the sidewalks too icy. The extra sleep was nice, but I'll be glad to be back at school! 

BIG THINGS are coming up in February. Monday will feature an interview with the fantastic Amar Shah for the Sweet Sixteen Celebration of Boys Read Pink, and on February 16th I'm hitting a BIG blogging milestone! 

Meadows, Jodi. Confessions From the Group Chat
October 21, 2025 by Holiday House
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

**Some spoilers that seemed rather apparent in the book, but may not occur to everyone.** 

 Virginia likes to volunteer at her local library, shelving books and organizing things. It doesn't hurt that Greyson Jennings also comes to the Deer Hill branch. He's cute, but ever since he quit the 8th grade football team, he's been a loner. Along with her friends Mary Heather, Kat, and Jess, she writes reviews for their joint Scrollr account that focuses on businesses in their town, like Seasonal Sweets. When they pass Greyson on the way home, Mary Heather's mother offers him a ride, and Virginia talks to him briefly about books. Later, when texting Jess about photo tips, she sends a picture she took of Greyson... but sends it to the whole group. Kat is snidely mean about it, and Virginia replies with mean comments about Greyson, to deflect opinions that she really likes him. After a scuffle at school in the group, Virginia is kicked out. To make matters worse, Kat copies and posts some of Virginia's mean comments from the group chat on Scrollr. Her older sister Victoria suggests she ignore the social media, which is hard, but Virginia copies by texting her "text-door neighbor". This person replies, and claims to also be 13, sending a picture of the same language arts textbook that Virginia has. The two (she names the person Knight Errant) text back and forth about hobbies and plan to text the next day. She has a little tiff with Greyson, but the two end up working together on the Winter Jolly-Days library booth since they both spend so much time with the librarian, Mrs. Kaufmann. In the meantime, Virginia keeps up her text chats with the unknown Knight Errant, although at Victoria's insistence, both sets of parents talk. When the Deer Hill Dirt Scrollr account gets meaner, it causes more problems for Virginia as well as Greyson. Things get messy, but end on a happy note. 

Strengths: Ah, the mean friend. The friend group that suddenly shatters. The cute but lonely boy on whom you have an unrequited crush. This certainly highlights so many compelling tween issues, and even includes parents obsessed with a crack in the house foundation, an understanding and helpful older sister, and a secret friend who helps Virginia through a tough time. I appreciated that Victoria insisted that Virginia tell her parents, even though she didn't want to know the identity of her "text-door neighbor". While I saw the identity of Knight Errant from the beginning, younger readers might not get that right away, and be charmed when it is revealed. Given the popularity of Greenwald's TBH series, young readers also are more delighted with conversations in text boxes than I am. 

Weaknesses: In Bye Forever, I Guess, Ms. Meadows has a note describing some text conversations that have come her way; I just can't believe that Greyson and Virginia would be one phone number apart. It's cute, but the only texts I've ever gotten that were not meant for me were meant for the previous owner of my number who apparently owed a LOT of people money. Young readers will be more likely to believe this could happen and will also be more invested in the drama. 

What I really think: This is a good choice for fans of Weissman's So Over Sharing, Parks' Averil Offline, or other books that combine tween drama with social media.