TALIA'S CODEBOOK FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL

Talia tries to crack the code to the complexities of sixth grade.

Talia Zargari loves math, writing, and drawing. She uses her codebook—filled with her observations, deductions, and artwork on quad-ruled pages—to decipher and navigate the unspoken rules of middle school. Talia is happy to still be best friends with Dash after other kids’ teasing about dating puts distance between them. She’s also thriving on the Chimeras, the newly formed co-ed math team, led by the smart and confident Leticia. The all-girls math team won a competition, and Talia hopes the boys will now treat them with more respect. Art teacher Mr. Wayne shows Talia and her friends connections between math and art, intertwining her two passions. But despite her successes, Talia’s parents put excessive pressure on her to succeed so as not to jeopardize her future college applications—and they continue to bring up a mistake she made in her last math competition. Fortunately, Talia learns that people are more complex than they initially appear: She once saw Leticia as effortlessly cool and smart but later learns that they share a lot of the same concerns, and the girls forge a bond. Working toward their next competition shows the math team members that practice pays off and that there are lots of different ways to lead. Talia has tan skin and curly black hair, Dash and Leticia read Black, and background characters mainly present white.

Entertaining and affirming.