Middle school was a particularly difficult time for me, a lonely outsider often buried in a book. I didn’t expect to become a comic writer but I fell in love with them in college when my roommate came home with piles of indie books every Wednesday. Now I write comics and adapt stories for Scholastic, including Lauren Tarshis's popular disaster series I Survived.
Emily Elizabeth is struggling to fit in at home and in school when she meets Clifford, a tiny red puppy who is destined to become her best friend. But when Clifford undergoes a magical growth spurt overnight, he attracts the attention of a genetics company looking for a way to supersize animals. With the help of her Uncle Casey, the people in her neighborhood, and some new friends made along the way, Emily Elizabeth and Clifford have to go on the run across New York City!
This graphic novel adaptation features original illustrations and exclusive new scenes and stories not seen in the movie.
Twinsis an original story that features the conflict between twin sisters as they both run for school president. There’s no simple or quick resolution to family disagreements and this book doesn’t try to give it one. The sisters learn from their parents, learn from each other, and ultimately learn more about themselves. I love honesty and complexity; this graphic novel doesn’t avoid either one.
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Twins
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This book is for kids age
9,
10,
11, and
12.
What is this book about?
A heartfelt and delightful middle-grade graphic novel, from the award-winning author Varian Johnson and rising cartoonist Shannon Wright. Maureen and Francine Carter are twins and best friends. They participate in the same clubs, enjoy the same foods and are partners on all their school projects.
But just before the girls start sixth grade, Francine becomes Fran - a girl who wants to join the chorus, run for class president and dress in fashionable outfits that set her apart from Maureen. A girl who seems happy to share only two classes with her sister!
My writing class encourages us to write memoirs about that time we were “the worst person in the room.” Mistakes make main characters vulnerable and relatable. As Nat pursues her first crush and alienates her friends, she turns into the kind of person you wish you could take aside for harsh truths before she ruins her life. Nat bumbles her way to better choices and there’s nothing more relatable than that.
For fans of Dork Diaries and Wimpy Kid comes a funny, heartfelt story about friendship! Making friends isn't easy, but losing them is even harder!
Natalie has never felt that she's enough - athletic enough, stylish enough, or talented enough.
And on the first day of middle school, Natalie discovers that things are worse than she thought: now she's not even cool enough for her best friend, Lily!
As Natalie tries to get her best friend back, she learns more about her true self and natural talents.
If Natalie can focus on who she is rather than who she isn't,…
I used to love going to the Texas Renaissance Fair with my family every year and often imagined what it would be like to work the booths. I also used to tutor homeschooled kids when I was in high school and this graphic novel is a fascinating cross-section of those two worlds. Imogene struggles to fit in with the standards of a new school, something that happens to many kids who aren’t even part-time knights.
Calling all Raina Telgemeier fans! The Newbery Honor-winning author of Roller Girl is back with a heartwarming graphic novel about starting middle school, surviving your embarrassing family, and the Renaissance Faire.
Eleven-year-old Imogene (Impy) has grown up with two parents working at the Renaissance Faire, and she's eager to begin her own training as a squire. First, though, she'll need to prove her bravery. Luckily Impy has just the quest in mind—she'll go to public school after a life of being homeschooled! But it's not easy to act like a noble knight-in-training in middle school. Impy falls in with a…
I admire honesty in storytelling and Dramastuck with me long after I’d put it down. While I don’t recommend it for very young readers who might have been fans of Smile, it’s a poignant story for 7th to 8th graders who might be in the middle of their first crush. There is all kinds of drama behind the scenes, especially in theater; sometimes the boy doesn’t like you and sometimes it’s because he likes another boy. It happens, and Callie learns to accept that, remain friends and move on.
Raina Telgemeier, the author of the award-winning SMILE, brings us her next full-colour graphic novel . . . DRAMA!
Callie loves theatre. And while she would totally try out for her middle school's production of Moon Over Mississippi, she's a terrible singer. Instead she's the set designer for the stage crew, and this year she's determined to create a set worthy of Broadway on a middle-school budget. But how can she, when she doesn't know much about carpentry, ticket sales are down, and the crew members are having trouble working together? Not to mention the onstage AND offstage drama that…
Friendships are messy and Real Friends tackles that fact head-on. Shannon’s best friend turns vicious and impossible to please when their status with the in-crowd is at stake. Having gone through my own tumultuous friendships growing up, it’s easy to imagine how readers can get involved in the arguments and take sides.
Following little Shannon's life from kindergarten through fifth grade, Real Friends captures the emotional roller coaster ride of friendship, from navigating the tricky waters of cliques and bullies to her never-ending struggle to stay in "The Group." Shannon's honest and heartfelt story reminds us of how hard it was to learn what real friends are-and why finding them is worth the journey.
For decades I have volunteered in different capacities, helping the hurting and those living on the margins by tutoring and teaching literacy to the formally incarcerated or homeless, teaching parenting in a maximum-security jail, and teaching ESL to resettled immigrants. Because my own suburban father fell into homelessness at the end of his life due to depression, job losses, divorce, and more, I feel tremendous compassion for anyone in this situation. And as the mother of four grown sons, we filled our home with books—especially books that taught compassion so our sons would grow into men with big hearts towards others. I believe we succeeded.
Eleven-year-old Sierra just wants a normal life. After her military mother returns from the war overseas, the two hop from home to homelessness while Sierra tries to help her mom through the throes of PTSD.
When they end up at a shelter for women and children, Sierra is even more aware of what her life is not. The kind couple who run the shelter, Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin, attempt to show her parental love as she faces the uncertainties of her mom’s emotional health and the challenges of being the brand-new poor kid in middle school. The longer she stays at the shelter, the more Sierra realizes she may have to face an impossible choice as she redefines home.
Eleven-year-old Sierra just wants a normal life. After her military mother returns from the war overseas, the two hop from home to homelessness while Sierra tries to help her mom through the throes of PTSD.
When they end up at a shelter for women and children, Sierra is even more aware of what her life is not. The kind couple who run the shelter, Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin, attempt to show her parental love as she faces the uncertainties of her mom’s emotional health and the challenges of being the brand-new…
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