Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone

In her first novel since winning the Newbery Medal for When You Trap a Tiger, Tae Keller offers a gripping and emotional story about friendship, bullying, and the possiblity that there's more in the universe than just us.\nSometimes middle school can make you feel like you're totally alone in the universe...but what if we aren't alone at all?\nThanks to her best friend, Reagan, Mallory Moss knows the rules of middle school. The most important one? You have to fit in to survive. But then Jennifer Chan moves in across the street, and that rule doesn’t seem to apply. Jennifer doesn’t care about the laws of middle school, or the laws of the universe. She believes in aliens—and she thinks she can find them.\nThen Jennifer goes missing. Using clues from Jennifer’s journals, Mallory goes searching. But the closer she gets, the more Mallory has to confront why Jennifer might have run . . . and face the truth within herself.\nTae Keller lights up the sky with this insightful story about shifting friendships, right and wrong, and the power we all hold to influence and change one another. No one is ever truly alone.\nFrom School Library Journal\nGr 5–7—"There are also things I don't know. Like, do some people really just have popularity? Or is it given, or taken, or some combination of both?" Mallory Moss ponders this question as she struggles to find her place in middle school and in the world at large. Jennifer Chan, a new girl from Chicago, has just moved to Norwell, FL, and the rumors about her are already swirling. As Jennifer's neighbor, Mallory discovers that Jennifer's strength and quirky personality, along with her firm belief in aliens, are a recipe for disaster for the upcoming seventh grade year. Jennifer, on the other hand, is thrilled to have a new friend, but is stunned to learn that their budding friendship means nothing at school, because Mallory is one of the mean girls. When Jennifer goes missing, Mallory's world is shaken; she knows that she must revisit the bullying Jennifer experienced to get to the truth and hope it's not too late to save her. Written from Mallory's perspective in chapters that alternate between "Then" and "Now," Newbery-winning author Keller's book contains an exciting mix of mystery, adventure, and science fiction. Readers will bond with Mallory and stay engaged in the well-paced plot. Mallory and Jennifer are both Asian, while most friends read as white. VERDICT With an appeal to a wide variety of readers, this genre fusion is highly recommended for all library shelves.—Tracy Cronce