October 6, 2026 by Scholastic Inc.
E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus
Avery's divorced mother is a nurse, and moves the two of them to a rival district in Texas when she gets a better job, just as Avery is starting high school! Walker High is a "better" school, and they are able to rend a small house instead of an apartment. She has a disastrous first morning riding her bike; she feels disheveled and has a minor collision with a dirt bike rider. Not only that, but she lies about having a Vespa. She overhears fellow student (and influencer) Maddy talking about some sort of disaster in her personal life, but that's nothing compared to the water main break that floods the bathroom. They escape, but the school is closed and the students are all sent to Sherman High, where Avery would have attended. Her best friend Reagan is glad to have her back, but a little leery about having Teresa, whom she met at band camp, attend her school. The rivalry between the schools is very pronounced, so the annual prank wars are forbidden. Avery befriends Darren, and has him teach her how to ride a dirt bike to cover for her lie about the Vespa, and also to impress Trent, who is dating Maddy, but whom Avery thinks is cute. To complicate things, Avery finds out that her mother is dating Coach Torres, who works at her school! Maddy (who is white), Reagan (who is Latine), and Corinne (who is Asian) are very interested in attending homecoming, and there is some relationship drama at the dance. This will no doubt be explored in the next book in the series.
Strengths: The NEXT series is quite intriguing, and includes so many good facets. This starts with graphic novel style illustration pages to introduce us to the characters, who are all high school aged. Romance and relationships are central to the high school experience, but are not always portrayed on the quotidianal, molecular level that makes them so important to hormonal teens. Avery's home life is realistic, and while she's not all that excited about her mother dating, and does try to sabotage her, she eventually realizes it's not that bad. While the characters are older, some situations, like sabotaging the mother's dating and the thrall of social media, are solidly middle school in nature. I'll be curious to see what the second book includes!
Weaknesses: I was never really sure what was going on with Maddy. She is portrayed as a bit snotty, but the girls include her in their friend group even before we find out what her troubled backstory is. Something about the book made me feel like Buford was required to include certain things but wasn't entirely convinced about having them in the story. I'll be curious to see if the following books are written by other authors. Provisionally shelving this under "F Riv" for the series name.
What I really think: This is a great choice for readers who love a series and can't get enough of books like Nelson's WISH novels or the (now ancient!) Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies. It's good to see Scholastic trying to make reading FUN again!
Weaknesses: I was never really sure what was going on with Maddy. She is portrayed as a bit snotty, but the girls include her in their friend group even before we find out what her troubled backstory is. Something about the book made me feel like Buford was required to include certain things but wasn't entirely convinced about having them in the story. I'll be curious to see if the following books are written by other authors. Provisionally shelving this under "F Riv" for the series name.
What I really think: This is a great choice for readers who love a series and can't get enough of books like Nelson's WISH novels or the (now ancient!) Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies. It's good to see Scholastic trying to make reading FUN again!
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