Bessica Lefter Bites Back

Gr 4–6—In this sequel to The Reinvention of Bessica Lefter (Delacorte, 2011), Bessica has made up with her best friend, Sylvie. She is about to make her debut as the half-mascot of North Teton Middle School. She has found some new friends. Things are going fairly well for her, considering that her grandmother is still on vacation with Willy, a man she met online, and Alice, the other half-mascot, still hates her. Then Bessica learns that T.J., the mascot she will face off against at the first game, plans on humiliating her with a facebomb. She's not sure what that is, but she knows it's not good. Not even feeding the dreamy Noll's lizard while he's away at horseback riding school or her grandmother's early return can distract her from her worries about what will happen. If T.J. succeeds, her whole school will be humiliated. She just needs to decide whether to bite first or bite back—and not get in trouble for it. Give this gently humorous first-person narrative to fans of Clementine who have outgrown her. Imagine Clementine as a middle schooler and you have Bessica. She's often tough to take, but her endearing qualities keep one rooting for her.—Brenda Kahn, Tenakill Middle School, Closter, NJ