Mackenzie Blue (1-3) by Tina Wells

Mackenzie Blue (#1)

Meet Mackenzie Blue, Zee to her friends.  She is starting seventh grade this year without her best friend who has moved to France.  But Zee is an outgoing friendly girl who makes friends with a new girl on the first day back.  Everything is going great for Zee until her diary is stolen and excerpts are written on the board at school.  Who took her diary and why are they tormenting her?  Zee is determined to find out.

Zee had been only two places that day - her house and school.  Oh no!  If the diary was at school, maybe someone had found it and read it.  p.54

This was an extremely cute book.  It was so fun and lively and Zee was an awesome girl!  She has great friend and is very talented and very enthusiastic so that was fun.  The main plot is about Zee losing her diary but the subplot is about a music competition.  Zee writes her own music and she doesn't know what to do when her diary is stolen.  There is a lot of "be yourselfs" and "doing your bests" in this book (without being preachy)  and I think it is a great book for middle graders.  I can see this on the Disney Channel or ABC Family.

Mackenzie Blue: The Secret Crush (#2)

Zee is back with her gang and they are forming a band with the help of Mr. P, the ultra cool music teacher.  The Beans, as they name themselves, decide to put on a musical as way of introducing themselves to the school.  And everyone wants the leads of course.  Zee wants the female lead and hopes Landon, her not-so-secret crush, get the male lead.  But Zee's friend Jasper also wants the lead and he is acting weird toward Landon.  How will Zee handle all this tension?

But Zee knew her mother would never understand what wa really important to her.  It was Zee's dream to be a star, and the musical was her opportunity to shine.  p.1

Another cute book in the Mackenzie Blue series, I think this one is a little better since all the characters have been introduced.  I can't figure out the Kathi character.  She is given a lot of motivation for her behavior and then she acts out of character.  Maybe that is a hallmark of the tween age, trying to figure out who you want to be.  I like the illustrations in each book and think it adds to the story nicely.

Mackenzie Blue: Friends Forever (#3)

Zee and her science class, including all of the Beans, are off on a wilderness class trip!  Zee is trying to figure out what's up with her friends, including BFF Ally, Jasper, and her crush Landon.  Everyone is acting funny and Zee just wants everyone to get along.

Zee looked at Chloe.  Jasper was right - crashing into a guy was not the best way to flirt.   p.22

This series gets better with each book.  I love the way Zee is so real and the issues are exactly right for middle grade girls: crushes, best friend fights, fitting in, periods, etc.  I remember all those things being so important at that age and I would have loved this series back then.  I actually really enjoyed reading it now.  Zee and her friends get into real and often humorous situations and the illustrations are so cute.  I'm actually looking forward to the next book.  This is a great series!

Sent by publisher for review