How to make friends and go viral by accident by Y. K. Willemse

Hayden’s social status isn’t improving when every attempt at conversation nose-dives for the 13 yr old. Add a slight speech impediment and he attracts attention from bullies like Ben and Sam. But his parents hit on an idea to boost his confidence  – singing lessons.  At first he’s mortified but he has aptitude and begins to look forward to the lessons with Mrs Williamson. One of singing ‘club’ students, Sophie, begins to get to know him. Through her he gets to know Amy and Mason.

The problem is that singing lessons does draw a target on his back with the other boys. The bullying escalates as the trio practice to perform at the end-of-year recital. Hayden is still feeling like an imposter and is terrified by Sam’s threats to humiliate him by livestreaming his performance on social media.  

Will Hayden go viral singing? Will performing at the school concert make or break him? A quick read of around 100 pages punctuated by more than a few laughs won’t take readers long to find out.  The latest in  the Rhiza Shorts series by teen fiction writer Y.K. Willemse is only 15 short chapters. They aren’t chapters per se, but the 15 step process predicated by the title, “How to Make Friends & Go Viral by Accident”.  Either way, Rhiza Shorts have chosen a particularly fun coming-of-age story to join existing titles in the series.

Themes: School, Bullying, Friends, Performing, Music.

Deborah Robins