Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 03/27/2026 Gr 5–8—When Sadie Zankel gets accidentally added to a group chat, suddenly she has a secret view of everything the most popular friend group is talking about. She can't look away, and can't make herself leave the chat. Her best friend Olive Horowitz-Yang is already anxious enough about middle school, and Sadie is struggling to expand their friend circle—there's no way she can tell Olive about the gossip she is now privy to. However, when the drama heats up even more surrounding a crush, and Olive realizes that Sadie is obsessed with the popular girls, tensions mount and friendships are in danger. Books written in text message are a major trend with tweens and early teens, and Greenwald has delivered a story composed partially in this format that not only serves up all the drama but is also written so closely to a contemporary middle school voice and experience that it's uncanny. Crushes are a major focus of the story, but there is no physical contact, and while there is a bit of cattiness in the group chat and among the girls, there is no traumatic bullying on the page. Sadie and Olive are Jewish, and Olive is implied to have Asian heritage. VERDICT A much-needed addition to middle school realistic fiction collections, written in a pitch-perfect tone for the drama of the middle years.—Kate Olson - Copyright 2026 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.