This book could not be more relevant now for middle school. Lina’s family is struggling financially and her mom is convinced that hiring someone to promote their business on social media is the answer to their problems. When this proves too expensive, the family takes matters into their own hands. . It boosts their business, but so many issues arise when the family creates social media accounts. As the story unfolds and teachers, police, and others are involved, the story realistically portrays what can happen when social media helps guide decision making. Lina and her friends learn some important lessons from their teacher and about true friendship. The book has very helpful pages at the end about how to help families use social media safely and responsibly.

Lina, from Finally Seen, continues to battle the social hierarchy at Winfield Elementary and Kelly Yang uses this playing field to focus on the potential for harm social media and the Internet have on kids and their parents. Main characters still include Lina and her best friends Carla and Finn plus Jessica, the student who joined with her mom in getting Lina’s favorite book/author banned from the school library. Lina’s mom and sister are key players as is favorite teacher, Mrs Carter. The bath bomb business started by the women in the Gao family that seemed to be the answer to the never ending struggle to earn enough cash to pay the bills is floundering and Mom begins an Instagram account to post videos and boost sales. “Modern Mama” is born, sales take off, and Mrs Gao begins to lose herself in producing more and more content, checking her likes, and responding to the negative comments. Lina inherits mom’s old phone and is immediately sucked into the world of chat rooms and videos that flood her feed based on her searches for things related to her changing body which leads to increased feelings of body negativity and obsession with what everyone is or might be saying about her. Mrs. Carter and the school counselor host a Social Media Awareness parent/student evening, cyberbullying and online predators are revealed resulting in damaged relationships. Ultimately, Lina’s family begins to implement limits and changes to their Internet and social media usage and positive change occurs between all of the featured friends and families. Outstanding messages of Internet safety, effects of too much screen time with emphasis on the negative influence of social media, as well as wise lessons on handling conflict face to face rather than through text or chat rooms. Yang keeps her book free of profanity, sexual content and violence and characters represent a wide variety of family configurations, economic strata and ethnic backgrounds. Pair with Sydney Dunlap’s It Happened on Saturday and while more focused on gaming and much more light-hearted, Gordon Korman’s Slacker and Level 13.

Everyone must read this book. I honestly wasn't expecting this book to affect me the way it did. I read Kelly's first book with these characters "Finally Seen" and liked it. I knew this book delt with social media but had no idea how much research had gone into writing this. The how and why we get so addicted are described so well here in a completely understandable way. The story is something everyone can identify with (even me as an adult) and the way Yang added in her research through the school setting was totally amazing. The kids really could understand what was happening to them and why. This is a must read for everyone who has ever or will ever use social media.

Finally Heard is a story about fifth grade students who are addicted to social media. Throughout the story, the kids learn about the consequences of spending so much time online. Middle school students will definitely be able to relate to this story. There are many experiences that they will be able to connect to. This is good book to help students understand how too much screen time can influence them and it will also start the discussion with students about how to handle social media. There are many great lessons in the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing for this DRC.
A fantastic look at how phones and social media can lead to so much stress for children (and adults!) Lina Goa is 10 and doesn’t have her own phone. When her mom begins using social media for her business, Lina steps up to help. It’s great fun until she does get a phone and begins to spiral when she sees everything she thinks she’s missing out on. Plus, she is starting puberty, so Lina has a lot going on her head.
Wonderfully, this books also brings real science facts of what social media does to your brain, and does it in such a way that is doesn’t feel heavy handed. Fully developed characters, parents and teachers make this great reading.

#FinallyHeard #NetGalley

I enjoyed following Lina and her family on another adventure. This book is both a mirror and a window for many of us as we see how social media affects Lina's family, including her mother but also what how it has such negative consequences on the kids. The book carries an important message and the end pages are important to read as well.

Great book that I loved and know that my students will enjoy as well! Does a great job of bringing real life social media pressures to light in a way that provides a gateway to discuss with kids. Also enjoyed seeing families and friends work through challenges together- with honesty and communication! Great read!

What a fabulous story of coming of age in the 21st century! It was so relatable as the parent of a student as well as a teacher of this age group with cell phones and social media!

The underlying bullying and social media addiction were written so well that this text will be a great resource for teachers and parents to read with or recommend this book to students!

Finally Heard is the next in the series about Lina Gao. Lina is growing up and her body is starting to change. Her mom decides to make a video for social media to boost her bath bomb sales. Lina starts making videos to help her mom and then her mother’s friends. Lina ‘s mother decides to giver her a phone to help making the videos. Lina quickly gets sucked into all things social media and can’t stop, until everything goes wrong.

Kelly Yang has done again. This book shows many sides of students being on social media and many of the hazards. You feel for Lina has she goes through puberty, and her struggles being on social media. I hope that the audience this book is intended for really listen to its message.

4 stars

In this latest installment from the gifted and prolific Kelly Yang, readers get to hang out again (because this is the second in a series) with Lina and company. This time, they all have an especially important and timely lesson to share about social media.

Lina, the m.c., has settled into her immediate family and friend group by the time readers catch up with her at the start of her second book. She's growing up, and her body is a constant reminder of this. When the book begins, Lina is hyper focused on the rapid changes she's experiencing, and the uncertainty that's part of puberty really gets exacerbated by something else particular to this generation: social media and resulting cyberbullying. What begins as Lina's mom's attempt to drum up some added bath bomb business turns into a full-scale meltdown for Lina and her friends. These kids cannot control themselves when it comes to checking their phones, posting and interacting on social media, and making a slew of bad and dangerous related decisions. Their struggle is intense and constant.

As usual, Yang evolves her characters organically throughout the book, and the relationships are an absolute highlight. Lina and her sister, Lina and her grandmother, and Lina and her best friend are just some of those that serve as healthy models for readers of all ages. The central motif could not be more timely or important. Yang really dives into the whys and hows of social media, and I particularly enjoyed the scientific approach one of the teachers takes with her students. What did feel uncharacteristically challenging for me - as far as Yang's books are concerned (and I've read literally all of them) - is that this book runs a little too didactic. At times, I found myself too aware of the lessons and less involved in the characters, and that's not a typical experience for me with this writer. I noticed this, too, in some choppy plotting (i.e., Lina's hyper awareness of certain parts of her body moves into a full focus on social media and then a quick and semi clumsy return to that initial focus just before the closing).

While I had minor gripes here, they are outweighed by fantastic characters and of-the-moment material. I am an incoming super fan of this author and am always looking forward to what she will write (and Mia, Lina, and others will do) next!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this. I really liked this one, and think it's a nice way of gently reminding kids the power and pitfalls of social media.