Goodbye Stranger

The first rule of Bridge, Tab, and Em's club: no fighting. But as they enter seventh grade, Em has developed curvy new curves, Tab has a newfound interest in social justice, and Bridge has a pair of fuzzy cat ears she can't seem not to wear. Their story of friendship and forgiveness is hardly earth-shattering, but it's told with the kind of funny subtlety and sensitivity that few writers possess. As warm, finely observed, and intricately orchestrated as Stead's award-sweeping When You Reach Me, Goodbye Stranger is the kind of novel that parents might elbow their middle-schoolers aside to read. (10 and up)