In this sci-fi/magical realism novel, Calonita tackles the struggles of chaging friendships in the hellscape that is middle school adolescence. Zoe and Laura have been BFFs forever but Zoe has been noticing they’ve been drifting apart. She’s determined to ignore her doubts and try harder to reconnect with Laura after a summer apart, and give her the best surprise party ever. . . only to find out that Laura was planning to ditch her.

It only gets worse when seventh grade starts and it is pretty clear that Laura wants to hang out with the drama queens than talk to Zoe. She’s heartbroken and wishes she could go back to those moments before. When they were happy and maybe if she tried just a little harder she could have proven that she was the only friend Laura need.

And it turns out there’s an app that lets Zoe do just that.

Fans of Back to the Future and other time travel adventures will enjoy this tale as Calonita creates a straightforward premise for time travel that creates unexpected consequences when Zoe tries to meddle with previous events. But it’s never too confusing. I mean a little bit as it’s difficult to keep track of the different timelines Zoe gets into but I was impressed how Calonita manages to keep track of things.

But the content is the most important part as Calonita touches on the nuances of fading friendship. It would be easy to demonize Laura as someone becoming shallow and popularity-obssessed compared to Zoe who isn’t into boys yet and more interested in STEM and the Future Cities club. Calonita doesn’t go that route.

Laura does show some fondness for her former friend as she encourages Laura to keep signing up for Future Cities even though she finds it nerdy, and she’s never outright mean. But it’s clear, they no longer have similar interests as they did before. Something Zoe finds out the hard way.

She’s in a bit of denial actually with her memories of Zoe/Laura BFFs Forever were rose-colored.Each retake shows that Laura was always going to grow apart from Zoe, and maybe Zoe won’t even like the person Laura is growing into or want to hang out with her. Yes, it hurts considering all the memories they’ve shared, the good and the bad but . . .

“You are who you are because of how you’ve grown together, but it’s okay to grow apart too,” (Calonita 189).

That quote is from Zoe’s mom who serves as a sensible shoulder for Zoe to ignore (at first). Same with her older sister who also tries to rip the pedestal Laura is on as she points out that Zoe tended to do everything Laura wanted to do. Not that Laura was controlling but it was clear that Zoe was more invested in the friendship as she’d drop everything to help Laura get the boy she likes.

Yes, helping and being supportive is part of friendship but it also showed that Zoe was getting too dependent on Laura, so scared of stepping out of their BFF world.

Calonita makes this very realistic in she shows the very real impact that fading/splitting friendships have on young people. It’s sad, and frustrating but it will get better. It’s okay to hold onto those memories but you have to recognize when to let go and grow apart.

Plus friendship is a two-way street as friends can have differing interests but if they really wanted to maintain the friendship, they would make more of an effort as Zoe tried to do before realizing it just wasn’t going to happen. She shouldn’t change herself to make the other happy and she realizes she doesn’t want Laura to do that either. It would make them both miserable.

But it doesn’t mean the friendship is over forever. . maybe it will just change. I mean it certainly seems like it is over but friendship is complicated so it is possible it could change again.

As the app has an important part in this story, there is also underlying commentary on the internet’s impact on friendships today. Like how it is easy to make people feel left out or skew memories since instagram can be so filtered and can take hours to set up a perfect shot that only shows part of her day. A refrain Zoe hears over and over from her mom is to get out of her phone and be present. Like any teenager, she ignores the wise advice as it is so steeped into daily life. But she does see her mom’s point by the end as her tight grip on the past prevented her from realizing new friends right under her nose.

The only nitpick I have is that I found Calonita reuses a lot of names. Yes, names are very popular but Laura Lancaster shares the same last name as Harper Lancaster from 12 to 22 who shares the same first name to Harper McAllister in Summer State of Mind and Avas tend to have a bad rap in her books. It’s a tiny thing but I couldn’t help notice the reuse.

Nonetheless, it’s a wonderful, nuanced book for middle schoolers navigating the changing friendships and insecurities folded within them.

5 stars.