Friendship Fails of Emma Nash

The misadventures of Emma Nash continue as she tries to reinvent her life with new friends, when Steph has a new boyfriend in Gracie's brother. She has to reevaluate her friendships and try to maintain that balance between giving them space and still being in the loop. To be more active and to have something to do, she takes part in the school's fashion show, where she and Charlie, another student, design clothes for a runway show with the help of other kids who volunteer. Along the way, she makes new friends in Charlie and Holly, but also strengthens her friendship with Gracie, while also finally having a conclusion to the Leon saga. In true Emma style, though, lots of shenanigans happen in between, with loads of pop culture references and apt teen experiences. Emma's plan to make new friends backfires in spectacular ways as she tries to apply the same tactics as the one she used to get a new boyfriend in the previous book. She also gains a stalker, and also experiences cyberbullying (she is going forward with her fashion designing). The tone of the book, overall, may not be as light as that of the previous, primarily because of the many plot arcs happening during it, as well as the fact that Emma is growing up. But there's also humorous mistakes, hilarious misunderstandings, the fact that Emma 'tries too hard' Nash treats this like a mission to accomplish. And there's also loads of cute moments, like the relationship with her mom and the beheaded teddy bear, Gracie and her frankly discussing friendships with people of the other sex and dismantling some hetero-normative myths by including bisexuals in the equation, and some genuine conversations between the girls as they try to figure out sexuality, relationships and everything else. So, while it may not be as great as the first book when it came to humor, it did make up for it with everything else.