A sincere friendship story full of heartache, growth, and self-discovery.
Twelve-year-old Sadie Zankel can’t believe her luck when she’s accidentally added to the group chat of an exclusive friend group at East Brookside Middle School.
Sadie Zankel and Olive Horowitz-Yang have been best friends since birth. The night before seventh grade, Sadie sets a clear intention: Quit obsessing over OSZ—the Other Sadie Z, or Sadie Zicholtz—and her clique. OSZ’s crew never get it wrong—perfect outfits, perfect hair, and an effortless confidence Sadie can’t match. Even though she knows it’s wrong, after she’s mistakenly added, Sadie secretly stays on the group chat. Armed with an insider’s perspective, she gains the confidence to talk with the friend group members in real life and establish a connection—for herself. She’s aware that if they took her in, there wouldn’t be room for Olive too. Unlike Sadie, Olive isn’t obsessed with OSZ; she wants their friendship to stay the same. When Olive learns about the group chat, her anxiety deepens, straining their bond. Ultimately, Sadie realizes she can grow and make new friends without leaving her friendship with Olive behind. The chapters switch between Sadie’s first-person narration and text exchanges. Sadie navigates the familiar highs and lows of middle school, including a crush, awkward self-doubt, and friendship drama. Her perspective, thoughtfully juxtaposed with the group chat, show that personal struggles are universal. The leads are Jewish, and Olive’s surname cues some Asian heritage.
A sincere friendship story full of heartache, growth, and self-discovery. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 12, 2026
ISBN: 9780063456013
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
Funny and endearing, though incomplete characterizations provoke questions.
An isolated class of misfits and a teacher on the edge of retirement are paired together for a year of (supposed) failure.
Zachary Kermit, a 55-year-old teacher, has been haunted for the last 27 years by a student cheating scandal that has earned him the derision of his colleagues and killed his teaching spirit. So when he is assigned to teach the Self-Contained Special Eighth-Grade Class—a dumping ground for “the Unteachables,” students with “behavior issues, learning problems, juvenile delinquents”—he is unfazed, as he is only a year away from early retirement. His relationship with his seven students—diverse in temperament, circumstance, and ability—will be one of “uncomfortable roommates” until June. But when Mr. Kermit unexpectedly stands up for a student, the kids of SCS-8 notice his sense of “justice and fairness.” Mr. Kermit finds he may even care a little about them, and they start to care back in their own way, turning a corner and bringing along a few ghosts from Mr. Kermit’s past. Writing in the alternating voices of Mr. Kermit, most of his students, and two administrators, Korman spins a narrative of redemption and belief in exceeding self-expectations. Naming conventions indicate characters of different ethnic backgrounds, but the book subscribes to a white default. The two students who do not narrate may be students of color, and their characterizations subtly—though arguably inadequately—demonstrate the danger of preconceptions.
Funny and endearing, though incomplete characterizations provoke questions. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-256388-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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