Real Friends vs. the Other Kind (Middle School Confidential) - Softcover

Annie has since contributed to many online projects, including as creator, designer, and writer for The InSite a Web site for teens taking on life s challenges. She also answers questions for the Hey Terra! feature as an online advisor for teens. Her Internet work has contributed to the publication of multiple books, including Too Stressed to Think? and the Middle School Confidential series. Annie is available for public speaking engagements and workshop presentations on teen and parenting issues.

When not answering Hey Terra! letters, Annie enjoys yoga, meditation, cooking, hiking, traveling, and, most of all, spending time with her husband David and the rest of her family.

Matt Kindt was born in 1973 to a pair of artistically supportive parents. Living briefly in New York, Matt has spent most of his years in the Midwest, and the last two decades in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. In middle school, he would often create mini-comics featuring the teachers, to the delight of his fellow classmates. Matt is the Harvey Award winning writer and artist of the graphic novels Super Spy and 2 Sisters and the comic series MIND MGMT, and co-creator of the Pistolwhip series. He has been nominated for four Eisner Awards and three Harvey Awards. In addition to graphic novels, Matt also works as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer. When he is not working, Matt enjoys long trips to the playground with his wife and daughter.

Grade 5–8—Jack, Abby, Mateo, Jen, Chris, and Michelle are the middle school students of various ethnicities who take readers through this slim, interactive guide. Chapters cover such topics as friendship dilemmas, so-called friends, when friendships aren't working, crushes, and making new friends. Each chapter opens with a scene played out by the students in cartoon panels. Next, bits of text, along with a multitude of side boxes, address the topic at hand. Sidebars of different "FILES" ("Real Friend," "Labeled and Judged," "Quit Pressuring Me") quote actual tweens and teens. "Need to Know?" bytes recommend relevant books and Web sites. Lists of questions are offered, along with the answers. There's a lot packed into this colorful title that falls somewhere between self-help and peer advice. Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI
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"In her second book in the series, Middle School Confidential: Real Friends vs. the Other Kind, Annie Fox delivers another powerful, helpful, and entertaining book for kids. . . . Reluctant readers could easily be attracted by this style where they can flip to any page in the book to get the information they need without having to read the entire book."

"Nine out of ten people agree that middle school can be the toughest period in a young person's life . . . and this wonderful book by our friends at Free Spirit can help a young person in that journey. This graphic book (comic book style for those of us who grew up a while ago) should be slipped into every new middle schooler's backpack or under his or her pillow."

"There's a lot packed into this colorful title that falls somewhere between self-help and peer advice."

"Amazing, colorful, and educational. . . . Middle school kids would definitely benefit from reading this."

"Fox does a remarkable job of laying out familiar middle school scenarios."

Learning and Laughter Favorite Educational Product Award Winner

"Young readers will be able to relate to the teens in the books and will feel as though they re having a conversation with their friends. Entering middle school can be tough, which is why it s great to have a series like this that middle graders can turn to."