Brave

Jensen wants to be a NASA astronaut, but is not good at math.  He is part of the Art Club, but is having a hard time getting along with friends, finding a partner (he always gets picked last) and realizing that he is being bullied.  Jenny and Akilah are on the school newspaper staff and are doing a social experiment and help Jensen realize that he is bullied and how to be brave.  Jensen is still too scared to stand up for himself so he finds other ways of "protecting" himself.  Will he ever be able to be Brave and stand up to the bullies?

Chmakova, Svetlana. BRAVE. New York: Yen Press, 2017. Print.

Awkward

LOVE THIS BOOK!

Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova is about a girl Penelope, Peppi to her friends.  She is starting school at a new middle school and is trying to stay under the radar of the "mean kids" and find her group to belong to, which happens to be the art club.  She trips and spills her books and a boy, Jamie, come to help her pick them up.  The other students start to tease her that she is the nerds girlfriend, so she pushes him away, but feels really bad about it.  Jamie is in Science Club and the Art Club is their rival.  As the book progresses, Peppi and Jamie get put together in a tutoring situation and the Art Club and Science Club have to fight to see who gets a spot at the club fair.  Things begin to really heat up.  Can Jamie and Peppi get along?  Who will get the spot at the fair??

Chmakova, Svetlana. Awkward. New York: Yen Press, 2015. Print.