Misfits, The

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by James Howe

A little too smart, a little too fat, Bobby Goodspeed has always been a go-along-to-get-along kind of guy. He and his fellow misfits Skeezie, Joe, and Addie have accepted their place in the middle school ecology, and the mockery that comes with it. Then Addie decides to tackle the student council elections and suddenly Bobby finds his life – and his self! – changing in ways he never could have imagined. Brought to sparkling life by a cast of over two dozen actors, this tender, touching, utterly hilarious tale of life as a middle school misfit will delight not only those who are in middle school, but all those who have survived the experience.

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United Tates of America

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by Paula Danziger

Skate Tate has a good life. She has close friends, a loving family, and her beloved Great Uncle Mort (GUM for short) who lives every day as if it were an adventure. Skate would like things to stay just the way they are. But life doesn’t work that way. For one thing, Skate has to figure out the strange new world of Biddle Middle, where eighth graders rule the roost, old friendships start to change, and a lowly sixth-grader has to struggle to make a place for herself. But other, more painful changes, are also in store for the Tates, and the story of how this close knit family responds to sudden tragedy will move and delight listeners everywhere. Told with her trademark wit and wisdom, filled with big laughs and unexpected tears, Paula Danziger’s newest novel is one of her finest achievements.

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Girls, The

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by Amy Goldman Koss

This multiple-viewpoint novel explores several days in the life of a middle school clique that suddenly shuns one of its members. With poignant, painful detail the author takes us into the mind of each girl involved, brilliantly illuminating the problem of girl-on-girl meanness. Must listening for middle school girls—and the parents who love them!

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