“The Math Teacher.” “The Assistant Principal.” “The Huggers.” “Your Old Best Friend’s New Best Friend.” “The Teacher Who Thinks She Knows You Well.” Gus describes her first year of middle school for her younger sister, Lou, through encounters with 47 people over the course of a year that sees her move from social insecurity and uncertainty to slowly growing confidence and greater maturity. Gus’s social interactions—for better and worse—play out against a backdrop of changing family dynamics: The girls’ parents recently separated and Gus hates moving back and forth between two homes. Gus gets in trouble a couple times at school—once for something she did, once for something she didn’t do—and she realizes the only time her parents are together is in the principal’s office; she hates that, too. Although likeable, Gus, white, is realistically self-centered, and part of her growth is realizing her sister, too, is hurting. It’s also in her burgeoning confidence as she makes new friends, and as they challenge sexism—in the dated Sadie Hawkins dance, and in the behavior of a boy who gooses female students. The title suggested a lighthearted novel, and there is plenty of humor, but also welcome depth. (Ages 9–12)