• Age: 12 to 18
• Grade: 7 to 12

After two glorious (though somewhat hectic) semesters with her dad in New York City, Mimi must make good on her promise to her parents: summer break with her mom. But it seems going back to her cozy old life in Houston isn’t in the cards. Instead, she’s dragged off to Berlin, where her mother’s been offered a fellowship. After a few weeks of a nightmare nanny job, it becomes clear that Mimi’s European vacation isn’t much of a vacation after all. On the verge of a nervous breakdown, she receives a call from Lily Morton, her friend from New York, who invites her to London, where an internship at a family friend’s magazine awaits. Soon Mimi is at it again—living it up with glamorous friends, pursuing a new crush, and chasing down celebrities at her very entertaining job. For a while, Mimi’s convinced she has it made. Never before has fitting in been so easy. If only it could stay that way. Mimi may have gotten a handle on the Empire State—but that’s nothing compared to the state of the empire!

Lauren Mechling is a senior editor at the Guardian US and has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Slate, the New Yorker online, and Vogue, where she wrote a regular book column. She's worked as a crime reporter and metro columnist for the New York Sun and as features editor at the Wall Street Journal. A dual Canadian and American citizen, she got her start in newspaper reporting at a Toronto daily, where she worked for several years in her twenties. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and two children.

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Laura Moser grew up in Houston, Texas. She is the author of a biography of Bette Davis and reviews books for various publications.

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