Myracle, Lauren. Yolo (Internet Girls Book 4). New York: Amulet, 2014. ISBN 978-1419708718. 208 p.$16.95. Gr. 9 and up.

Maddie, Angela and Zoe, the girls of TTYL by Lauren Myracle, are back and beginning their freshman year of college in Lauren Myracle’s YOLO.  The three bffs are spread across the United States but keep connected through electronic messaging.  The girls quickly decide they need to get out and make friends¸ or they will be in their dorm rooms to wallow in self-pity.  Once they make the yolo pact, “You Only Live Once”, they make it a point to try new things.  Maddie, the boldest and furthest away, is boarding with a clique of local girls who were friends before going off to college. Trying to fit in with her suitemates, Maddie misses her boyfriend and two best friends—Zoe, devoted to her high school boyfriend, and Angela, the group’s soul virgin, who are tangled up in new friendships and relationships of their own.  Packed with personal conflict, the friends are always texting to keep up with each other’s drama.  There is so much going on with the girls, it’s hard to believe YOLO happens within a span of three months. An accurate representation of freshman year at different universities, readers will be able to relate to the story without having to read the first three in the series.

Realistic Fiction                                           Brooke Gerlach, Manheim Central Middle School

This book reads almost as if a movie script.  An introduction to theater or film class could easily use this novel as an example of character and character development.  The girls use parenthetical inserts to show emotion and body language throughout the texts.  Even though the three friends are the primary characters, readers are still able to “meet” their friends and boyfriends through the text conversations.  Using this type of characterization, Myracle shows how to effectively build characters using what primary characters say about secondary characters.  Because of all the app and electronic references (Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.), it would pair nicely with an introduction to communications class, discussing the evolution of modes of communication and social media.  Finally, mature content (oral sex, gambling, date rape, and hazing), may turn some educators away from the novel.