I've read the first book with my daughter, so it was exciting to see the next one come up in NetGalley for review. Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for the opportunity to review this book.

Even though Gigi and her friends are in middle school, I would say that this would be good book for upper elementary school. The story flowed quickly and had just the right amount of conflict to maintain interest. However, I felt there could have been better resolution with the Christiana Moon story line. Perhaps this is an accurate representation of how real life is - not everything has a happy resolution, which is a good lesson to keep in mind, but since Christiana was supposed to be in a mentorship role, I thought it could've been addressed a bit more.

I appreciated that when things didn't go the way Gigi expected, she was able recognize her disappointment, and move forward, trying to do the best she could. The story showed the power of friendship and how friends (old and new) can support each other and stand up for each other. Gigi has a good group of friends, and I'm looking forward to where the next adventure takes them. It seems like as they are growing up, their interests are changing and while they might not focus on the same activities, they'll always have each other's backs.

There is also a small romantic story line, but I liked how the author didn't focus on it too much and kept it sweet and innocent. Perfect for the age group this book is intended for.

I don't think I retained a lot from the first book because I had absolutely no clue who Emma was. My main problem, though, was with Christiana Moon. She wasn't just dismissive of Gigi; she was nasty and rude. I couldn't believe that a famous artist would ever treat a young protégé the way Christiana treated Gigi. There was no encouragement, no gently pushing Gigi to step outside her comfort zone- just scorn and derision from a so-called professional. I probably won't continue with the rest of the series.

Gigi and her friends are going to New York to attend Starscape Art Academy for a month. They created an afterschool tutoring program to help pay for the camp. Gigi is kind of glad because her “boyfriend” Paul tells her he’s away for the entire summer. When they get there, the girls realize they are rooming together. Gigi is in a whole different building and her roommate seems very stand-offish. Things go from bad to worse, when Gigi’s idol-Christina Moon, doesn’t like her idea for a graphic novels. Gigi & the girls learn a lot about themselves at camp. Gigi has a lot of disappoints, but still bounces back. She and her roommate end up being good friends. Now for the rest of the summer.

I enjoyed both books and feel that this one was just as good as the first. It sets up for future books. I wish it was just a little longer though. I feel like it just wasn’t enough-events, character development, etc. I look forward to reading the next one!