Isabella for Real, written by Margie Palatini, reviewed by Klaudia Janek

Summary: Isabella Antonelli lives in New Jersey and lives close to many of her Italian American relatives. She is close to her cousin Vincent and when he asks her to be in some movies for a film class, she doesn’t even think twice. The videos have been on YouTube for a while and it was just a class thing. All of a sudden, Isabella starts attending a new private school, the video’s go viral and her new classmates think she is a contessa’s daughter. Everything is spiraling out of control and Isabella’s life turns into something she can’t stop herself. She knows that she will have to eventually admit the truth to everyone and she is prepared to lose her friends over her lies. Fortunately, her crazy family works to fix her predicament and all the pieces fall into place.

Straight Talk for Librarians: This is a uniquely written story. A lot of the look is based on YouTube and a film script. There is a cast of characters at the end of the story so that the reader doesn’t get the family members mixed up and you can even see what they look like through illustrations. There is a bit of a lesson in terms of social media spiraling out of control and what it could look like from a middle school perspective. There is a lot of humor in the dialogue and the characters are over the top in a funny way. I think readers will think Aunt KiKi is a hoot. Pham’s illustrations really add a lot to the story in terms of the humor and the feelings of the characters. The ending is a bit of a twist and I don’t think most readers will see it coming. The story paints a picture of rumors sometimes going out of control. We all need a reminder of not believing everything we read on the internet. This book might just be a librarians best friend when trying to teach about fake news. It could also be a good choice for a middle school film or journalism class. Both Isabella and Vincent write/film about what they know. Their normal life was of great interest to viewers on the Internet. There is a little bit of New Jersey slang in the story, but I think most readers will be able to figure it out. It’s a fast, fun, highly entertaining story that would be a good fit for any school library.