Jo Waller is struggling with how to express her individuality without straying too far from the crowd. It’s a typical tween problem, but 12-year-old Jo – a self-described acne-scarred, bespectacled, geeky loser – has found a unique solution: she journals her thoughts and covertly slips them into Wikipedia entries. Her edits are quickly deleted by Wiki moderators, but knowing that her words are out there for the world to read, even for just a few minutes, gives Jo a thrill.

Eventually, Wikipedia becomes an invaluable source of catharsis and comfort for Jo, whose already bewildering existence is thrown into further tumult when her 24-year-old brother, Zim, moves back home with his pregnant girlfriend, Jen, in tow. To make matters worse, Jo’s best friends start drifting toward the cool crowd just when she needs them most.

Each chapter of Something Wiki, Toronto author Suzanne Sutherland’s second novel, begins with one of Jo’s doctored Wikipedia entries before it launches into the latest developments in her life at home and school. The conceit leads to some funny moments: “I have three friends. Do you think that’s enough?” Jo writes in the entry for “Friends.” “Of course not. Loser,” responds a Wiki troll.

Sutherland offers elements that are well-drawn and relatable, from the seemingly life-ending humiliation of a botched haircut to the spiralling powerlessness one feels when friends suddenly become frenemies. Just as often, though, the weirdos and cool girls that surround Jo are reduced to clichés: Zim is a guitar-playing, band-shirt wearing university dropout who plans to support his new family by working at a record store; Jen sports pink hair (and later, a shaved head), is mysteriously estranged from her family, and works at a bookshop.As for Jo’s former friends, their mean-girl transformations are signalled by straightened hair, makeup, and Hollister hoodies.

Though some of the pop-culture references (including the title’s playful nod to Shakespeare) might be lost on younger middle-graders, they will still be drawn into Jo’s universe, with its familiar experiences of isolation, self-consciousness, and incomprehension in the face of ever-changing rules for belonging.