CD

Maya thought she had the greatest friends in the world. But suddenly, BAM!, she's out of the group, with no idea of why her friends have dropped her. The listener will find out, though, as the story of why Maya has been shunned unfolds through five skillfully intertwined, sometimes scorching, first person narratives.

With uncanny precision and unsparing accuracy, Amy Goldman Koss explores the world of middle school cliques, and exposes the "mean girl" phenomenon in this insightful look at the real world behind the headlines.

When Cal Lavender's mother has an unfortunate "episode" in the library, a police officer takes Cal to the "Pumpkin House"—a group home where Cal must stay until her mother is able to care for her again. Stranded with four hurt, troubled girls and an eccentric old woman known as "the Knitting Lady", Cal thinks this can't possibly be her real life. Or can it?