by Sara Amini and Shadia Amin
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Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is a mention of girls having crushes and name-calling. It’s in the Middle-Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

It’s the start of sixth grade, and Sara wants to make it the best year ever. Except that she has no classes with her best friend, she’s suddenly sprouted leg hair, and she just doesn’t feel like she belongs anywhere. Part of that is because everything is awkward in sixth grade, but part of it is that she is half Colombian and half Persian, and doesn’t feel like she’s enough for either.

Then she finds the drama club and discovers that acting helps make her feel like she belongs.

The book follows the whole school year: the ups and downs with Sara’s best friend, and her making new friends; the drama of not feeling like you fit in with everyone else. There’s nothing major, really, but it does capture the tiny trials of sixth graders, especially one who is bi-racial. It’s a solid story, and one that I think a lot of kids will relate to.