The Virtual Life of Lexie Diamond--Victoria Foyt

Title: The Virtual Life of Lexie Diamond
Author: Victoria Foyt
Publisher: HarperTempest
Pages: 310 p.
Source: The publisher
Compensation: None

14 year old Lexie Diamond has a strange worldview. She's sure that she's just a virtual pet trapped in a meaningless existence while the real masters of the universe watch life on Earth and laugh at all the clueless humans. She doesn't have any friends and spends all her time on the internet--the only place where she feels at home. She's mostly okay with this until a horrible tragedy happens and her mother is killed in a car accident. Her estranged father moves in to take care of Lexie, bringing along his new girlfriend, Jane. Lexie is still in shock and denial about her mom's accident, resentful of her father's new relationship, when she sees and hears her mom--through the internet.

Victoria Foyt has written a really interesting novel. Lexie's worldview is so messed up that we wonder if she is a reliable narrator until the very end of the novel (no, I won't tell you if she is or not. You'll have to read for yourself.) Is she really seeing her mom alive on the internet? Are her fears and suspicions of Jane--that she is responsible for her mom's death--accurate? Or is Lexie just a grieving lonely girl looking for someone to blame? Foyt does a good job of keeping us guessing, while keeping Lexie a sympathetic character. In Lexie's quest for the truth she's forced to accept help from unlikely people and make connections in the real world and not just online. She grows as a person.

Science fiction fans and computer geeks will be attracted to the cover of this book, but mystery fans will also like its suspenseful plot. Although the main character is a girl, boys shouldn't have a problem reading this. There's nothing inappropriate for middle school readers.
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