Keeping It Real is another authentic friendship tale from writer Paula Chase. I love the way she captures young teenagers' voices and brings them to the pages of her work. Her stories are relatable for younger teenagers and I hope that Chase continues to write them.

A bit unfocused. It's putting together big ideas but doesn't fully integrate them so nothing ever gets fully explored. The final twist felt unnecessary. While initially interesting, by the end I mostly found it tiresome.

Paula Chase has a unique voice that is not easily done in middle grade books. I was immediately drawn into Mari’s story through her voice and the fashion and drama. The drama just kept going and the pages kept turning. Chase has a way of developing characters in such a way that you can see them and feel for them. By the end of the book, I wished I could be a fashion designer, or at least dress like one, and my heart was repairing after being torn to pieces. I absolutely loved this story and know that is a story that is needed with a theme that many will connect to.

Chase just has a knack for writing relatable and real kids and capturing authentic dialogue. I've preferred other titles, but this is still a great pick for your collection.

Marigold Johnson is excited to spend her summer as part of Style High- a program at her parents' wildly popular company, Flexx Unlimited. Not only will she get to stretch her style muscles, but she will get to work with her best friend- Justice.

The first day shows Marigold right away that her summer is not going to go quite as planned. Justice seems a little distant, Chandra is TOO much, and Kara doesn't seem to like Mari from the jump.

I enjoy Paula Chase's writing every time I pick up one of her books. This was no exception. I enjoyed the overall storyline but rated it a bit lower because the end seemed rushed. There was a lot of built-up tension and then a flood of resolution. While I know that once a revelation occurs there isn't always a lot of story left to tell, I would have liked there to be more exploration of the outcomes.

I loved this! Unfortunately publication plans at Shelf Awareness (where I was assigned to review this) changed and my review was not printed, but I do talk this book up where I can!

This was a great read. I spotlighted it as book of the day on my social media platforms, and I included it in a monthly roundup of new releases on my Black Fiction Addiction blog.

This was a good book, and I enjoyed reading it. However, I think the advertised age-range might be low/wrong. There's a lot of language and slang that makes it too mature for middle-grade. For example in some rap lyrics that are quoted- "Girls be on my tip because they ride it, get it." The students also make sexual comments to each other. I did enjoy Marigold's story (her internship in her parent's business, her friendships, and the lessons she learns). I would just recommend it for grades 7th+.

Keeping It Real is a riveting upper middle grade about family, privilege, and conformity in the Black community. With a perfect in-between voice, this book is perfect for older tweens and younger teens in the eighth grade and older. Kids who enjoy stories about the arts, friendships, and family drama will enjoy this one.

On a summer internship for Black teens, the boss's daughter struggles to fit in with her peers while a family secret challenges her worldview, resilience, and capacity for forgiveness.

This hard-hitting (but fun) middle grade novel explores the complex dynamics of privilege and class within a Black community. Mari's authentic and realistic pre-teen voice will be accessible to middle school readers, who will see their own struggles to fit in reflected through her experiences. A must-buy for middle grade fiction collections and middle school book clubs!

Mari and her best friend Justice are both go-getters who come from different sides of the tracks. Mari's family owns a business, Flexx Unlimited, which leaves Mari set for life; whereas, with Justice the only way he's going to make it out after they graduate is through scholarships and opportunities. Which when one arises at Flexx, an internship, Mari finds herself wanting to be doing something as well this summer since all of her friends seem to be working. Mari finds a way to get into her parents business to help out, but they are insistent she WORK - it won't be fun or all sunshine and rainbows just because of who she is. The other interns aren't thrilled with the work they've been given at first, but as time goes on some start to open up to the ideas of what they are doing. The only problem is, one girl, Kara, does not have a soft spot for Mari at all - then a big family secret drops that might change Mari's whole life trajectory.. or does it?

Mari's mother and father run a highly successful business located in District City, Flexx Unlimited, that is involved in producing fashion and styling celebrities. When her best friend, Justice, earns an internship there, Mari asks if she can work at Style High as well, since it seems a better plan that doing volunteer work or hanging out with with Ms. Sadie, who is a grandmother figure to her. Since she goes to a predominately white private school, Flowered Arms, she's excited to spend time at the mainly Black business, especially since Justice will be there. Her parents are okay with this, but very insistent that she actually WORK, and not just take advantage of the situation because they run the business. The other interns, including Chanda and Kara, are working with Marques and Joel, and the work is not what they envisioned. Instead of immediately styling celebrities, they have to inventory collections, clean and reorganize items, and serve as general gophers. While this is better than cooking burgers, like her cousin is doing, Mari wishes it were a bit more exciting. Chandra is not too bad to work with, but Kara is always rather mean, and seems to have designs on Justice. When there is a competition to style the musician Magiq, Mari gets to show her talents. When a family secret from the past emerges, how will Mari's involvement in the family business be affected?
Strengths: Chase is an avd advocate of upper middle grade titles, and does a fantastic job of making her characters a bit older. This allows them to have more freedom and agency to conduct their lives, which is hugely appealing to my students! Mari's lavish lifestyle, brushes with celebrity, and private school will also delight readers who probably don't live this way. I'm always a fan of books where the characters pursue their passions and work, and the fact that the internship was less glamorous than the interns thought it would be was a great lesson. The family secret was a great twist that I did not see coming, and the way the family dealt with it was realistic. Plenty of friend drama, family dynamics, and outrageous fashions make this an intriguing read. The cover is such a great pop of color!
Weaknesses:This has a fair amount of slang, which is a great way to represent youth culture. My reservations about this arise because slang varies in different parts of the country and changes over time, so this might not be slang my students use, and might date the book more quickly. On the bright side, I learned a lot of new words!
What I really think: Chase's So Done, Dough Boys, and Turning Point all do well in my library, so I will definitely be purchasing.

Marigold or Mari as she is called is a young African American girl learning to navigate coming from wealth, adjusting to being in a predominantly white school and having to deal with being caught in two world being black but not a black child from impoverished means and still not being accepted by her white classmates. Liking a boy(Justice) who may not see her that way and it could possible be because of her wealth and prestige behind her. One summer she interns in her parents hip hop company along with Justice and two other girls who won internship in the company. As the four of them navigate what it takes to style and understand the hip hop fashion world Mari again have to deal with one of the girls in the internship named Kara who seems to immediate takes a dislike to Mari and Justice seem to be into Kara that sets Mari mind into a tailspin. It all comes to a head when Kara and Mari have a an argument that reveal the reasoning why Kara may not be feeling Mari at all. A great look into a hip hop clothing companies way of possible doing things. A great read that I belief today's teenage would be able to comprehend.

Keeping It Real is the story of Marigold who’s just graduated from junior high and is about to enter the summer right before she goes to high school. She is the daughter of two parents who run a very successful hip-hop-oriented fashion company called Flexx and because of that, she is held up at a higher status at her school. Because of her background, she also gets a lot of flack from her best friend Justice who she has a major crush on. He among others says she’s too bougie or not Black enough. To prove naysayers wrong and that she is a hard worker she decides to join Flexx’s summer program in order to prove that she has the skills to succeed on her own.

Mari has trouble fitting into the summer program right from the start. As people label her by her parent’s status she finds herself clashing with Justice even more. She knew that things weren’t going to be easy but from the beginning, she starts to feel as if she didn’t make the right decision.

Mari struggles with being labeled as something she’s, not and does her best to be accepted by the rest of the crew. But the more she tries the more she gets labeled as fake. This is an obvious gap between her and the others because of their background and she knows she can’t change that. Also, it’s a story of revaluating friendships, understanding others, and growing up. Mari is faced with situations and how she handles them affects the rest of the summer experience. Most of all it’s a book about how we judge other’s appearances and make assumptions.

Ms. Sadie whipped around, arms folded. “You know better than that. Don’t go talking that nonsense, putting people in boxes ’cause of where they from. That little girl ain’t no different than you or nobody else out here trying find a way for herself.” My eyebrows dipped in confusion. “I was just joking.” “It’s not funny , Marigold. And if you acting like you better than people, then I got an idea what them other kids think about you.”

Keeping It Real is a story about being yourself, family dynamics, and friendships. It had some unexpected twists that I didn’t see coming which added to the overall plot. I appreciate that in Chase’s books she keeps it 100% real with her readers. She really connects to her intended audience with the way she writes and also the themes she discusses in her novels. I highly recommend her middle-grade books.

First of all, let me get this out of the way: if I had to pick a major concern with this book, it would be the pacing. Without spoiling, there is a pretty major twist that happens about 80% of the way through the book that changes a lot, but by the time the twist happens there is very little time left to deal with the repercussions of it, and so that part winds up feeling rushed. I would have had the twist be discovered close to the middle of the book, so that the fallout gets the time it deserves.

Apart from that, this book was pretty enjoyable. The main character is definitely flawed, and is at times an unreliable narrator, but she is not unbelievable in her thoughts and actions - you can tell why she acts the way she does throughout the book. And I did learn a little bit more about fashion that I knew before, so that was a fun bonus. I could see some teens really resonating with this book, and think that anyone curious about it should give it a shot.

Excellent upper middle grade that will keep readers engaged with its characters and premise. Students interested in fashion who also love stories about friendship, family, and changing dynamics will love Paula Chase’s new book. Recommended.

Another fantastic book by Paula Chase. This is great book for upper middle grades students. It is a true coming of age story that tackles, socioeconomic diversity, friendship, family and community. It tells the story of Merigold Johnson whose wealthy parents run a fashion corporation and is one of the only Black students at her elite private school and her summer experience working as part of her parents program for kids. Through this program she makes a friend, questions her friendship with a long time friend and finds out a family secret. It is engaging, authentic and relatable.

Keeping It Real belongs in the hands of young adolescent readers. The narrative and dialogue spark, and Paula Chase writes characters with great insight and voice. Highly recommended, and thank you to the publisher for sharing an ARC through Netgalley.