Review Detail

‘The Zee Files: A Very Malibu Vacay’ by Tina Wells takes Zee Carmichael back from her new home across the pond to sunny California, where she will spend Christmas with her family. While she’s excited about the trip and meeting up with best friends Chloe and Ally while there (since Ally is staying with her mom in California instead of staying with her dad in Paris for the holiday break), she’s concerned that her mother isn’t taking the holiday seriously enough, at least not family-wise. Zee wants to decorate and bake and do all the things they normally do as a family for the holidays, but her mother seems too wrapped up in making sure everything is Instagram-worthy, and Zee isn’t having it.

When Zee decides that she wants to invite lots of her old classmates from her former school to a holiday party, Mrs. Carmichael jumps at the chance. Zee isn’t sure if it’s all such a good idea after she decides to invite everyone, but soon she gets more in the spirit of it and sees that her mother is really trying. Not only does Zee’s brother and his girlfriend come for the party and to spend the holiday together, but Chloe and Ally, and Zee’s old bandmates, including potential crush Landon, visit as well. With all of her friends and family around, it feels more like old times. Except for the fact that Ally is being a bit secretive about something, and Zee thinks it’s because she wants to stop being friends.

While Zee worries about her friendship with Ally and her relationship (or lack thereof) with Landon, she also ponders life back in London. She thinks about ex-boyfriend Archie and good friend Jasper, as well as her roommate and other new friends she’s made while there. By the time the break is done, Zee has more on her mind than ever before, but things start to look a bit more up than she expected.

Readers who have been following Zee will enjoy her holiday adventures back home in California. The pictures interspersed throughout the pages make readers feel like they are in on the action with Zee and her family and friends.