Better You Than Me by Jessica Brody - ESSENTIAL

Better You Than Me by Jessica Brody, 424 pages.  Delacorte Press (Penguin Random House), 2018.  $17.  Content: Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: G  

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS – ESSENTIAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH  

12yo Skylar is a huge fan of tween star, Ruby Rivera.  When Skylar has a bad day at middle school, with mean girls making her life hard, Skylar hops a bus to nearby Burbank to take a studio tour of Ruby’s TV set.  While on the tour, Skylar sneaks into the prop closet and chances a meeting with Ruby, who is also having a bad day.  While in the prop closet they wish they had each other’s lives and they find themselves in a body switch.  Ruby and Skylar think they are doing a good job living the other person’s life, but then it starts to unravel.  

I read this book in two days.  It was a fun, fast read with good characters and I love the body switch premise.  I also liked the moral of empathizing with other’s hardships and finding your true self.  Great character growth and enjoyable read!  

Reviewer, C. Peterson