One Star

Marcus Webb has 52 reviews and a 4.7 average rating. He reviews everything: his dentist (two stars - the waiting room music was "aggressive but not well-aimed"), his best friend Owen (five stars, no caveats), and the school cafeteria (four stars, solid if not ambitious).

Then the cafeteria switches programs. He gives it one star. Then he gives Miller's Bakery one star. And then 2,300 people find his cafeteria review helpful, and everything gets complicated.

When Marcus's review lands in front of the school board - and in the local newspaper, and all over the Harwick Parents Facebook Group - everyone has a lot of feelings about a seventh grader's honest assessment going public. His principal wants a statement. Parents want action. A bakery employee writes "this is really hurtful." And Marcus has to figure out whether a fair review and a kind one are always the same thing, and what to do when they're not.

One Star is a funny, sharp, and surprisingly moving story about words, fairness, and what happens when you say exactly what you mean to an audience you didn't expect.

A Just One Chapter Book. For anyone who has ever checked the reviews before going anywhere.