The Pants Project by Cat Clarke 267 pages

Liv is 11 years old.  Liv is starting a new school.  A school with a very strict dress code, including that girls must wear skirts.  There's one big problem with this.  Liv is not a girl.  Finding a way to tell her moms that she is trans is hard enough without discovering that her best friend is more interested in being popular than being her friend anymore.  One thing that Liv absolutely cannot let go is getting the stupid dress code changed.  Why can't people dress in the clothes that make them feel like themselves?  Liv finds unlikely friends and the end of the book is not just hopeful, but really lovely.  The nice thing about this book was that, while it dealt with the issue of transgender, it wasn't so unrealistically optimistic as Gino's George.  This had a much more believable timeline for its characters.  I loved it.  I thought that Liv was a truly cool and strong character, and I appreciated the message that we are who we are and that's something we should all appreciate.

Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek (a Memoir) by Maya Van Wagenen, 264 pages (2016-2017 Truman Readers Award Nominee)

Self-proclaimed geek,  Maya Van Wagenen,  discovers an old copy of a 1950's popularity guide,  written by former teen model Betty Cornell and decides to spend her 8th grade year following the advice in hopes of attaining popularity. 

The first thing I have to admit is that I definitely do judge a book by it's cover and I couldn't resist this kitschy cute one.  Then I read the inside flap and the awkward 8th grader inside of me cheered!  If only I'd had this book in 1993!  My BFF and I would have followed it to the letter!

The next thing I have to admit was that I was concerned when in the first chapter Maya devotes an entire month to solving her "figure problems."  Not exactly the body positive image I'm trying to instill in my own daughter.  Fortunately, it's pretty humorous and not at all preachy.

Each month was devoted to a different topic from the original book by Betty Cornell.  Maya included tidbits from Betty as well as live and learn tips from her own experiences.  By the end of the year, she had succeeded.  People knew her and liked her, she had become popular.  Her final popularity tip was the best one, in my opinion.  "Popularity is more than looks.  It's not clothes, hair, or even possessions.  When we let go of these labels, we see how flimsy and relative they actually are.  Real popularity is kindness and acceptance.  It is about who you are, and how you treat others."  Well said, Maya.  Well said.

Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead 289 pages

Rebecca Stead is one of my favorite authors of middle grade reading material and I'll tell you why.  She can work with various themes and make believable, touching stories and characters that pull you in and won't let go.  She has won the Newbery for When You Reach Me and I would love to see Goodbye, Stranger win any number of awards.  I was concerned that this book would be better housed in the teen area, because one of the characters is faced with a dilemma about whether to send a particular kind of photo to a boy at her school.  I read the book to determine if it was one that our younger audience would be okay with, without lots of negative feedback from parents and caregivers.  Truly, this was such a beautiful book.  It occasionally switches from character to character, but for the most part follows Bridge, a 7th grader who is navigating a new middle school world with her closest friends.  Unlike some of Stead's other works, this had no sci-fi subtext, no need for suspension of disbelief.  It was an honest look at children in that very difficult age range of nearly teen.  Every character was completely believable.  True to life, no one was completely one thing or another, there were no obvious bad guys, just people who made poor decisions sometimes.  I would recommend this to anyone.  Young people who want to be able to relate to characters in really meaningful ways, adults who want to understand the modern world and how it impacts young people.  It really gave me a lot of insight into what tweens are faced with and how amazing they are for being able to get through it all.  Yes, I began reading it to see if it belonged in the Children's collection, but I ended up not being able to put it down.