Everyone Wants to Know

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up—Lo and Behold was a reality show that gave audiences an inside view of Honor Lo's family life. No longer on the air, the show still continues to influence their lives. Honor's parents are musicians and authors, older sisters Jamison and Skye are influencers, older brother Wrangell distances himself from all of it, and twin Atticus is a volleyball star. Honor believes, as her father has always told them, that family comes first, but when her parents separate, that belief is shattered. Honor desperately tries to keep her family together by planning their annual vacation, but it's a disaster; then Skye announces she has cancer, and the family rallies around her, even as online commenters speculate that Skye is making it up. Honor can't confide in her old friends, who she believes talked to the press, and has trouble trusting new ones, though she wants to trust Caden—a handsome boy at her new school whose dad is absent and whose mom is in rehab. Honor's first-person, present tense narration, as well as magazine articles, interviews, and online comments illuminate the difficulties of being famous: What do you show, and what do you try to keep private, especially when you are trying to present your "authentic" self? Who can you trust when you don't know what their motivations are? The latest from Gilbert thoughtfully explores how perfection is only surface deep. Readers won't be able to put down this absorbing novel. VERDICT An excellent first purchase for all YA collections.—Jenny Arch