Lux: The New Girl

Gr 6 Up–A rocky intro to a hi-lo series with potential. High-school junior Lux Lawson is in a downward spiral. Since her dad left a year and a half ago, she’s been kicked out of multiple schools for fighting and has isolated herself from her friends. Her passion for photography is her only comfort. When she’s kicked out of yet another school, her mom sends her to live with her father, his new wife, and their baby. They pull strings to get her admittance to an arts school, where she begins to make new friends and gain acceptance. But when videos of her last fight surface, Lux’s new life is in danger of falling apart. For a short hi-lo book, this novel attempts to cover a lot of ground. The beginning is awkward because rather than experiencing Lux’s emotions with her, the narration tells the reader all of her backstory at once and how it makes her feel. The story picks up once Lux begins attending her new school, and the scene where she confronts her father is gripping. While Lux is a high school student who is prone to fighting, there isn’t any explicitly violent content, so this story would be appropriate for a wide age range.