All that Glitters

by Tina Wells, Mike Segawa (Illustrator)

Overview

See where London takes Zee next in Book 2 of The Zee Files, the spin-off series to the bestselling Mackenzie Blue books!

Featured in Children's Book Council's July 2022 Hot off the Press list!

"The second book in the [Zee Files] series continues to follow Mackenzie (Zee) Blue Carmichael through her life in her new school, the Hollows. She has been so stressed with her academics, new country, new home, new school, new friends, and the upcoming festival performance that her teacher reached out to her father and Zee has started seeing a counselor at school. . . [Zee] has a few successes toward the end. . . Scattered illustrations throughout the book are well designed and carried out, I especially enjoy how emotive they are."
—Youth Services Book Review

"In this second installment of the Zee Files, a spinoff of the Mackenzie Blue series, Zee is preparing a song for her school’s art festival. Year nine has proven to be difficult as she adjusts to her new life in the U.K. and being the new student at a posh British boarding school. Zee’s classmates proffer coping tips: meditation, yoga, affirmations. Then Zee begins to see a therapist who encourages journaling. . . Zee is definitely a girl of the 21st century."
—Kirkus Reviews

The crew can't stop talking about the school's biggest event and talent show of the year, the Creative Arts Festival. But while Zee's excited to see her friends and schoolmates perform, she's not sure if she'll ever be ready for the stage. She's never performed in front of so many people before, or without her bandmates—or in England, no less!

With the Festival slowly approaching, classes also get harder while things with her friends and family become more complicated. Will Zee be able to pull it all together in time?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781513134840
Publisher:	Turner Publishing Company
Publication date:	07/12/2022
Series:	The Zee Files , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	152
Sales rank:	932,491
File size:	8 MB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Tina Wells is a business strategist, advisor, author, and the founder of RLVNT Media, a multimedia content venture serving entrepreneurs, tweens and culturists with authentic representation. Tina has been recognized by Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business, Essence’s 40 Under 40, and more. For over two decades she led Buzz Marketing Group, an agency she founded at age 16 with clients like Dell, The Oprah Winfrey Network, Kroger, Apple, P+G, Johnson&Johnson, and American Eagle that Tina connected with her network of 30,000 buzzSpotters® and 7,000 “momSpotters”, all influential millennials and passionate end-consumers. Tina is also the author of seven books, including the best-selling tween fiction series Mackenzie Blue, its 2020 spinoff series, The Zee Files, and the marketing handbook, Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right. Tina’s board positions have included THINX, the United Nations Foundation’s Global Entrepreneurs Council, The Franklin Institute and Young Entrepreneur’s Council. She has also served as the Academic Director for Wharton’s Leadership in the Business World Program at the University of Pennsylvania and is a member of the 2017 Class of Henry Crown Fellows within the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute.

Mike Segawa is a children’s book illustrator, and wears many hats in the art and design world. Previously to The Zee Files series, Mike illustrated Tina Wells’ previous bestselling series, McKenzie Blue. He also works as an art director, graphic designer, and environmental designer. He splits his time between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1: Family Reunion

“Zee, darling, breakfast is ready!” Mrs. Carmichael called from the kitchen.

Mackenzie Blue Carmichael turned over in her bed and looked toward the window, searching for her cell phone to check the time. Her hand whacked against the nightstand, knocking over her journal, but she caught her phone before it could fall to the ground too. The oversized numbers on the screen read 7:15 a.m. Zee had looked forward to sleeping in a bit longer than she would back on campus at The Hollows, but alas, between the twins rising at sunup and her father’s early schedule, the whole house had been dressed and ready for the day for the past hour.

Zee sat up in bed and looked at her phone with tired eyes. A message had come in from Ally, her BFF currently living in Paris. It was a copy of the train schedule from London to Paris for the next week.

Ally and Zee have been best friends since they both lived in California and attended the same grade school, Brookdale Academy. Ally moved to Paris a few years ago, and Zee just moved to London at the end of summer after her father took a new job. Zee and Ally planned to meet up in Paris this week while Zee was on fall break—Ally’s parents recently split up, and she could use some cheering up from her bubbly and energetic friend Zee.

Let me check and see which day will work! Zee texted back. She was excited to make this trip happen, especially since Ally had canceled on her when they scheduled their first reunion in Paris right before school started.

Zee threw the covers off of the bed, swung her legs off the edge of the bed, and stood up. She stretched her arms overhead and rose to her tippy toes before relaxing her heels back down to the floor. It was her first night’s sleep back in her London home since she went off to boarding school. There was something so comforting about her old bed, the way the worn-in mattress hugged her body and the softness of her favorite flannel sheets.

Interviews

“I’d been dreaming up an idea for a few years that explored Mackenzie Blue a few years older, dealing with teen issues. After a rejuvenating weekend in the Cotswolds at Soho Farmhouse, I thought that there was no better place for a creative arts boarding school. I’m from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, so I loved the idea of creating an environment where Mackenzie and friends connected with nature daily and were inspired by their surroundings, which was definitely my experience in growing up.”

Editorial Reviews

"The Zee Files and All that Glitters launch a new series following 13-year-old Mackenzie Blue 'Zee' Carmichael, who starts at a new boarding school when her family relocates to England from California."
—Publishers Weekly, Spring 2022 Children's Announcements

From the Publisher

2022-07-13
Mackenzie “Zee” Blue Carmichael is back.

In this second installment of the Zee Files, a spinoff of the Mackenzie Blue series, Zee is preparing a song for her school’s art festival. Year nine has proven to be difficult as she adjusts to her new life in the U.K. and being the new student at a posh British boarding school. Zee’s classmates proffer coping tips: meditation, yoga, affirmations. Then Zee begins to see a therapist who encourages journaling. Unsurprisingly, her festival performance is successful. Zee is definitely a girl of the 21st century: She knows about social distancing, riding in Ubers, influencers, and self-care. Though characters appear to be in their early teens, they behave much older, with Archie—Zee’s crush—jetting off with his parents to Sweden and Zee zipping off to Paris for a day trip. Enmeshed in their upper-class milieu, characters seem removed from reality, and the story feels thin. Zee becomes Archie’s girlfriend at the end, although they barely talk throughout the narrative. Written in third person, the book focuses on Zee’s point of view, but, confusingly, the second half switches to some of her classmates’ perspectives for short periods. Zee is described as having “curly hair, freckles, and wide eyes,” and the cover depicts her as light-skinned. Illustrations depict her fellow classmates as racially diverse.

All that glitters isn’t gold. (Realistic fiction. 11-13)

Kirkus Reviews