La Porte County Public Library System

Moving on with her Cupcake Club friends despite lingering resentment over being ditched by her former best friend for a more popular group, Katie resolves to confront Callie and struggles to find ways to repair the friendship.

Katie starts to realize that doing what you love always makes the batter sweeter.

"Join Jessie as she keeps a diary of her project on superheroes! She wants to know what it would take to be Batgirl. Can Jessie prove to her friends that she's more than a sidekick? Will she outwit her nemesis at the school Superhero Slam?"--Page 4 of cover. Eighth-grader Jessie's use of a diary to track the progress of an assignment about superheroes evolves into a journey of transformation.

"It started as a joke -- but it's not funny anymore. Even though Ezra's got good friends and can make everyone laugh, he feels like he's invisible, both at home and at school. To make things worse, he's the only kid in his group without a phone -- left out of plans and shared jokes and games. Finally, at the end of fifth grade, his parents come through. The phone changes everything. Ezra texts his friends all the time, can instantly keep up with his...

In her book, Alexandra Robbins explores the ways group identity theories play out among cliques - and the students they exclude. She reveals the new labels students stick onto each other today, the long-term effects of this marginalization, and the reasons students falling under these categories are often shunned.

Quizzes, stories, surveys, and activities for middle schoolers addressing such issues as physical and emotional changes, connecting with friends and family, setting goals, and handling peer pressure.

"Bree can't wait for her first day at her new middle school, Enith Brigitha, home to the Mighty Manatees--until she's stuck with the only elective that fits her schedule, the dreaded Swim 101. The thought of swimming makes Bree more than a little queasy, yet she's forced to dive headfirst into one of her greatest fears. Lucky for her, Etta, an elderly occupant of her apartment building and former swim team captain, is willing to help"--Provided by...

Evelyn befriends Queen, the new boy in town, who does not seem to get fazed by bullies and lives by his own rules, and soon begins to learn new things about the world and herself.

Cheaney's novel opens with a bus accident on a torrentially rainy night and the promise that one character will be famous by book's end; she then rewinds nine months with news of a robbery in the sleepy Hidden Acres subdivision. But these early tinges of suspense wind up being peripheral as the novel unfolds. Over nine months, Cheaney (My Friend the Enemy) follows the stories of nine characters, fourth through seventh graders, who ride Mrs. B's school...