THE SECRET BLOG OF RAISIN RODRIGUEZ

When 12-year-old Raisin's mother develops Ice Dogs, "the frozen treat for dogs," she falls in love with and marries the man who bought her company, and moves Raisin and her younger sister from Berkeley, Calif., to Philadelphia. Raisin starts a secret blog to keep in touch with her two best friends from home. In it she reveals the often embarrassing moments of her new life. While Raisin often seem too sophisticated for seventh grade (throughout, Raisin empathizes with Gordo, the first monkey in space, who must have been "seriously lonely"), the blog format is timely, and spunky, clumsy Raisin is an easy narrator to like (when the popular girls show up at the same restaurant where Rosie's family takes her for a birthday dinner, she mistakenly thinks they are singing happy birthday to her). The plot holds no surprises, from the meanness of Fiona Small, "the sex symbol of Franklin Academy" and her friends, to the public discovery of Raisin's blog, but the setup provides plenty of opportunities for Raisin to recall her often mortifying, but sometimes heroic moments, such as her winning soccer goal when the ball accidentally hits her head. Overall, while readers may wish the author had flushed out some details and characters, especially in Raisin's family, they will find this as entertaining as stumbling across a private blog on the Web. Ages 10-up. (Apr.)