Clique Here: A Wish Novel

by Anna Staniszewski

Overview

From middle-grade darling Anna Staniszewski comes the story of a girl who might just have being popular down to a science.

Lily loves science and hanging out with her best friend, Katie. But after a really embarrassing incident, she jumps at the chance to switch schools. She's ready to start over. With the scientific process, anything is possible!

After a summer spent coming up with theories and prepping for the switch, Lily starts her new school as Blake, a popular girl with a cool name, ready to climb the social ladder.

But every hypothesis has its flaws, and Blake will have to adjust her experiment as she adjusts to her new classmates. And when Katie suddenly shows up in Blake's world, things get messy. Who's got the winning formula: Blake or Lily?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338680270
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	06/01/2021
Series:	Wish
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	374,664
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	650L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Born in Poland and raised in the United States, Anna Staniszewski grew up loving stories in both Polish and English. She was a Writer-in-Residence at the Boston Public Library and a winner of the PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award. Anna lives outside of Boston, Massachusetts, and teaches at Simmons College. When she's not writing, Anna spends her time reading, eating chocolate, and challenging unicorns to games of hopscotch. You can visit her at annastan.com.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Once Upon a Cruise:"An action-packed week with a bit of real-life fairy tale and a taste of happily ever after thrown in for good measure. Tweens, especially those with a fairy tale fetish, will devour Ainsley's story." -- Children's Literature"As always, Staniszewski provides a deft mix of comedy and sensitive, deeper themes, making her book not only entertaining, but one that offers wisdom. She knows where to mine the humor from middle school life but does not sacrifice her characterizations for easy laughs. Light -- but not lightweight -- fun for preteens." -- Kirkus Reviews"Confidently addressing a number of common tween troubles that include bullying, parental divorce, and peer pressure, Staniszewski introduces a determined eighth-grader desperate to get her separated parents back together in this humorous problem novel." -- Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

06/25/2021

Gr 4–8—Lily cannot wait to switch schools and finally be free of the bully who has tormented her for years. She loves science, her family, and her best friend, Kat. Wanting to fit in at Lincoln Middle School, she decides to run an experiment to see if she can create a formula for popularity. At Lincoln, with no friends since Kat decided to stay behind at Hemlock Academy, she decides to test the formula. As luck would have it, science nerds appear to be the "in" crowd at Lincoln. After initially meeting some nice kids who are into sports, she realizes that they are not popular. She can either ditch her new friends or change the way she acts to fit in and be popular. Changing her name to Blake and using her formula, Lily transforms to fit in, creating a rift between her sister and best friend. Soon she realizes that there are repercussions to changing herself. Readers who have dealt with bullies will easily relate to the pressures of Lily's situation. The plot is engaging and will keep readers turning pages to see where her choices lead. There is a little love story seamlessly intertwined in the action which does not get sappy or overdrawn. The lead characters are well developed and elevate the pleasant yet predictable theme—be yourself. Lily is cued as white. VERDICT An enjoyable story about family and friendship to which students will relate. Not a must-have, but for fans of Svetlana Chmakova's Awkward and Jacqueline Kelly's The Evolution of Calpernia Tate, this one would be good to have on your shelves.—Elena Schuck, Mattacheese M.S., Marstons Mills, MA

School Library Journal

2021-03-25
Science-crazy seventh grader Lily Blake Cooper hopes that transferring to a new middle school will transform her from nerdy geek to social butterfly.

At Lily’s old school, mean girl Courtenay and her bevy made her life hell; looks and money seemed to be all that mattered. Before embarking on a fresh start, Lily devises a science experiment to try to solve the mystery of middle school popularity. However, science turns out not to be the ideal tool for making these life changes. Deciding to go by Blake and improving her wardrobe help, but the new school turns out to have plenty of pitfalls of its own. The coveted science club is superserious and less fun than the kitchen science Lily loves, not to mention that here the science-y kids rule, looking down on those who are less successful academically. A series of messy pranks target Lily and her classmates, and eventually a cruel prank which is hard to recover from socially is played on her. Although the characters tend toward two-dimensionality, the swiftly paced, first-person narrative keeps readers engaged, and the message that putting others down is wrong, no matter the reason, is valuable. Lily’s social awkwardness and lack of confidence will resonate with many tweens. Her growing ability to deal with whatever life throws at her is relatable and engaging. Most characters present White.

Shows readers that being kind is more important than belonging to the right clique. (Fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews