Kat and Meg Conquer the World by Anna Priemaza (review)

Plagued by anxiety and panic attacks, Kat is cranky about having to move to Alberta and repeat freshman year; at least she'll still have her second life in Legends of the Stone, her beloved multiplayer video game. Meg has difficulty with friendships, since her ADHD gives her energy that makes it hard for people to put up with her for long. When she and Kat are paired for a science project, Meg is thrilled, Kat less so, until they discover a mutual fandom for a guy whose videos of him playing LotS have made him a YouTube star. Alternating narration provides peeks into each girl's different processing style, with Meg leaping from thought to thought while Kat worries obsessively about her ailing grandfather and getting their project done. Meg is good for Kat, though, as she forces Kat to interact with people, including Meg's new boyfriend; Kat, in turn, provides a steadying presence for Meg as she wonders if it's her fault that everyone she loves, including her stepfather, ultimately leaves her behind. When Meg tries, unsuccessfully, to hold on to her boyfriend by having sex with him, her relentless cheer breaks a little, forcing Kat way out of her comfort zone to try to help Meg be Meg again. A celebration of girl power at its best, these two prove that the things you hate most about yourself might be exactly what someone else needs. KC