Bessica Lefter Bites Back

Bessica Lefter is back in this hilarious, all-too-relatable middle school novel that "will have readers laughing aloud" (Booklist). Now that Bessica’s the half mascot at her middle school and made some new friends, she finally feels like she’s fitting in. But Alice, the other half mascot, hates her. And after some mean texts, Bessica’s friendship with Sylvie might be over. Bessica doesn’t want drama. She’s got her first big game to worry about. Not even taking care of gorgeous Noll Beck’s lizard or deciding whether to crash Sylvie’s party can distract her. Bessica will be facing off as mascot against T.J. the Tiger, who has a reputation for embarrassing the competition. Letting him make fun of her would be like letting him humiliate her whole school. Bessica’s worked hard to have some social status. And she’ll work even harder to keep it. . . . "[Bessica's] endearing qualities keep one rooting for her." --School Library Journal "A fun story." --Midwest Book Review "Informative and worthwhile." --VOYA

From the author of the Project (Un)Popular series and Too Cool For This School, a funny, authentic story about fitting in, growing up, and making it in middle school! After an unfortunate incident at the hair salon, Bessica is not allowed to see her best friend, Sylvie. That means she's going to start middle school a-l-o-n-e. Bessica feels like such a loser. She wants friends. She's just not sure how to make them. It doesn't help that her beloved grandma is off on some crazy road trip and has zero time to listen to Bessica. Or that Bessica has a ton of homework. Or that gorgeous Noll Beck thinks she's just a kid. Or that there are some serious psycho-bullies in her classes. Bessica doesn't care about being popular. She just wants to survive—and look cute. Is that too much to ask when you're eleven? "Funny, goofy, anxious, and absolutely emotionally authentic." --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Starred Review "Many a middle school girl will find a piece of herself in Bessica Lefter." --VOYA

Twelve-year-old Lane Cisco has good friends, a secret boyfriend, and the position of sixth-grade captain at Rio Chama Middle School, but life gets complicated when her off-beat cousin Angelina arrives for an extended visit.

Two middle school BFFs experience the highs and lows of friendship, boys, sixth-grade politics, sister drama, and popularity in this funny and smart sequel to Project (Un)Popular! Perry can’t figure out what she’s doing wrong. Her best friend, Venice, has a boyfriend, making her feel totally left out—especially when Venice doesn’t seem to have time for Perry or her problems. Yearbook has gotten a little bit better, but Anya is still out to get her, and instead of getting to work on something fun, Perry’s stuck covering the “What’s Hot” section. Even her attempt to help the geeks is backfiring. And when her older sister takes one of the biggest dorks at school under her wing, Perry feels completely betrayed. Now Hayes, a boy she barely knows, is hanging around and giving her stuff, and Perry panics. She doesn’t want a boy to be crushing on her—especially Hayes. And social media makes everything more complicated. Is it even possible for Perry to turn things around and make sixth grade awesome? "The drama of crushes, frenemies, and hovering parents is spot-on."--Kirkus Reviews

Perfect for summer reading is this first book in a fun new series about two middle school BFFs as they experience the highs and lows of friendship, boys, sixth grade politics, sister drama, and popularity. Middle school isn’t a popularity contest. It’s a war. Perry and her best friend, Venice, are excited to be yearbook photographers and tell the story of their school through their art. But that’s before they find out the truth: the spontaneous moments they’re supposed to capture are all faked. Yearbooks should include everybody—even the dorks. But Perry feels totally stuck. Until she starts taking flattering shots of popular people, none of her candids will ever be chosen. Fighting back isn’t going to win her any friends—she might even lose some. It's time to decide what’s more important: fitting in . . . or standing out.

Twelve-year-old Lane Cisco has good friends, a secret boyfriend, and the position of sixth-grade captain at Rio Chama Middle School, but life gets complicated when her off-beat cousin Angelina arrives for an extended visit.

Half-Hazard is the Winner of the Emily Dickinson First Book Award from the Poetry Foundation for a debut by an American poet over forty. Half-Hazard is a book of near misses, would-be tragedies, and luck. As Kristen Tracy writes in the title poem, “Dangers here. Perils there. It’ll go how it goes.” The collection follows her wide curiosity, from growing up in a small Mormon farming community to her exodus into the forbidden world, where she finds snakes, car accidents, adulterers, meteors, and death-marked mice. These wry, observant narratives are accompanied by a ringing lyricism, and Tracy’s knack for noticing what’s so funny about trouble and her natural impulse to want to put all the broken things back together. Full of wrong turns, false loves, quashed beliefs, and a menagerie of animals, Half-Hazard introduces a vibrant new voice in American poetry, one of resilience, faith, and joy.

Sixth-graders Perry and Venice, photographers for their middle-school yearbook, are frustrated to learn that only pictures of popular students are welcome, but when Venice gets involved with a boy Perry doesn't like, Perry puts their friendship at risk by siding with Anya, the editor-in-chief.