Too Cool for This School

Gr 5–7—Sixth-grader Lane Cisco's life near the top of the middle school hierarchy is just about perfect. She nailed her interview to be a class leader, and now she just wishes that her "secret" boyfriend would be a little more official. Then her cousin arrives for an extended visit from Alaska. Mint dresses wrong, talks wrong, and thinks wrong. Lane is sure she'll be branded a loser and hopes she doesn't bring her down with her. Lane's world is turned upside down when Mint isn't shunned. Instead, her classmates think she's cool-even the boys Lane and her BFF, Ava, are crushing on. When Ava concocts a plan to ruin Mint, Lane's loyalties are torn. The protagonist is a rather unreliable, unsympathetic narrator who doesn't gain much insight as the plot progresses, and she seems to have an inordinate amount of unsupervised time at school. Certain plot contrivances are oddly jarring, such as the abruptness of Mint's visit, Lane's parents' reluctance to tell her of the visit beforehand, and their decision to lie to the school district and share that lie with a 12-year-old, among others. Still, the author has a real sense of tween dialogue, relationship dynamics, and preoccupations. Readers will recognize the Lanes in their lives and root for Mint in this gentle story of friendship and individuality.—Brenda Kahn, Tenakill Middle School, Closter, NJ