Jojo vs. middle school

Bybee (A Few of My Favorite Things) and McCullough (Basil & Dahlia) team up in this hilarious series launch. On top of preparing to start sixth grade at Kagan Middle School, Jojo Lopez is struggling to adjust to a new family dynamic after moving in with her mother's well-known catfluencer boyfriend Paul, aka Mr. Meow. And if this arrangement doesn't work out, Jojo, her brother, and her mother will return to the original plan: move to Texas to live with Jojo's abuelos. Despite all the changes, she's excited for her first day of middle school. But everything goes wrong, culminating in a mortifying situation that finds her in Kagan's forbidden hallway, where she encounters fellow classmates Leah, Ryan, and Izzy, all of whom have their own first-day horror stories. As the racially diverse tweens confront challenges relating to perfectionism, busy home lives, and plain old bad luck, they're each aided by their new friends. Depictions of open communication and sincere, vulnerable friendship cultivated amid cat-astrophically laugh-out-loud misadventure offer maturing readers an exceptional model for what fulfilling relationships can look like. Ages 8--12. Agents: (for Bybee) Ann Leslie Tuttle, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret; (for McCullough) Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Feb.)

The ups and downs of a newly formed group of friends as they weather their first days of middle school. Jojo, a biracial Guatemalan American 11-year-old, is adjusting to some big changes; she's about to start sixth grade, and she, her brother, Sam, and their mother have recently moved in with Mom's embarrassing boyfriend, Paul, an influencer known for his social media posts about his cats. After Jojo accidentally flashes her cat-themed underwear to her classmates (unbeknownst to Jojo, one of Paul's felines ripped a hole in her leggings), she avoids the cafeteria and instead eats lunch from a vending machine in an abandoned locker room. She stumbles upon three other girls who are also feeling isolated and disconnected; each shares her own awkward and mortifying first-day story. The following afternoon, reports of a bobcat on the premises prompt the school to initiate a lockdown. The girls shelter in place, but because of the faulty announcement system in the locker room, they don't initially realize the building has been evacuated. When they finally discover what's happening, they bond further, dubbing themselves "Team Awkward" and venturing through their empty, potentially bobcat-filled school together. Filled with fun callbacks, the humorous dialogue rings true, and the lively, fast-paced though implausible plot will keep readers hooked. Additional characters--including family members, classmates, and teachers--are introduced intriguingly, suggesting they will get more time to shine in future installments. Jojo's school is diverse. A fresh, witty, and friendship-focused series starter.(Fiction. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.