Tweet Layla dreads starting 8th grade, another year, she assumes, of mediocre grades and the feeling of just getting by. Life at home has difficult moments too: her dad’s been gone since she was a baby, her mother juggles single-parenting … Continue reading
Category Archives: Friendship
Tweet At 11, Jayla is mostly happy with her big extended family and her life at school. But she misses her best friend who moved away, and she worries about her mom’s health. When she sees a video of people … Continue reading
Tweet Twelve-year-old Abbey thinks the worst thing about starting seventh grade is being the new girl (again) when her dad is stationed at an Army base in Tennessee. But then planes fly into the World Trade Center in New York … Continue reading
Tweet Thirteen-year-old Nellie has a lot on her shoulders. Her mother left the family, her dad sometimes gets depressed and stays in bed for days on end, and her younger brothers need someone around to be responsible. She believes if … Continue reading
Tweet Today I’m reviewing a book I loved that’s great for readers aged 9 to 14. It’s called Dan Unmasked, and I have one copy to give away to someone who comments here. Just leave a note telling me if … Continue reading
Tweet Piper is super powerful, but she doesn’t always know how to direct her strength without destroying everything around her. Sloane has a super brain, but when her mom falls ill she resorts to stealing and doing dirty work for … Continue reading
Tweet Twelve-year-old Alex is grieving for his father and finding it hard to fit in to the town of Orchard, Maine, where his mom moved the two of them after his dad’s accident. The one piece of furniture that feels … Continue reading
Tweet Hank knows that different is not less. It’s one of the things his parents taught him to help him get through moments when it’s clear that he’s different than his classmates. Like when he set fire to a book … Continue reading
