Barbara Dee

"Misfit Tally is forced to room with queen bee Ava on the seventh grade's extended field trip to Washington, D.C., and discovers several surprising things about her roommate, including the possibility of an eating disorder. During a class trip to DC, twelve-year-old Tally and her best friends, Sonnet and Caleb (a.k.a. Spider) are less than thrilled when they are assigned roommates and are paired with kids who are essentially their sworn enemies. For...

Twelve-year-old Wren, who is learning special effects makeup, is thrilled to be makeup artist for her new school's production of Wicked, but her parents' divorce is seriously affecting her mother.--

Every tween girl knows what it's like to have a mom who can be a little embarrasing at times. But for Marigold, it goes way beyond embarrassing. Marigold's single mom is a performance artist, meaning she stages dramatic, wacky performances to express her personal beliefs. Things like wrapping herself in saran wrap for a piece on plastic surgery, or inviting people over in the middle of the night to videotape her sleeping. In fact, Marigold's mom's...

When twelve-year-old Zinnia Manning's older brother Gabriel is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, it turns her family's world upside-down, especially since they are keeping the information private.--

With her father "out of the picture" and her mother working long hours, twelve-year-old Cassie unconsciously describes her anger and confusion in a fantasy novel she is writing for school.

"According to the book she and her best friend Maya have written, Finley believes that all of the boys at her middle school are immature, until Zachary Mattison returns from a year away, and Finley sees him in a new light."--