The Pages Between Us

by Lindsey Leavitt, Abby Dening (Illustrator), Robin Mellom

Overview

Told in letters, posters, blog posts, homework assignments, and more, The Pages Between Us is a totally fun, totally earnest snapshot of middle grade friendship—and what it truly means to be there for someone during the ups, downs, and everything in between.

Piper and Olivia have been best friends since…well, forever. But they're distressed to find that their new middle school schedules aren't giving them enough together-time. Luckily, an idea sparks when Piper finds a cute, sparkly notebook to disguise as her "French Class" homework. It's genius—now the two BFFs can stick together all the time. And document their adventures—you know, for anthropology's sake.

But as the two navigate the tricky new world of sixth grade, they realize that they may need to branch out more than they originally thought. Their notebook, once a life raft, begins to feel like a big responsibility. Can they grow up, without growing apart?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062377715
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	02/09/2016
Series:	Pages Between Us Series , #1
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.20(d)
Lexile:	680L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Lindsey Leavitt is a former elementary school teacher and present-day writer/mom/party animal (not to be confused with her spirit animal, which is a lion). She lives with her family in the Utah mountains. She is the author of the Commander in Cheese series, The Pages Between Us series (co-written with Robin Mellom), Sean Griswold’s Head, Going Vintage, The Chapel Wars, and the Princess for Hire series.

Robin Mellom is the author of several middle grade novels, including the Classroom series, Confessions from the Principal’s Kid, and The Pages Between Us, which was coauthored with Lindsey Leavitt. Her own child was born just like Hannah Sparkles: without crying one bit! Robin lives in California with her family, where she twirls, sparkles, and shines as often as possible. These days, her go-to happy place is the beach. Learn more at www.robinmellom.com. 

Editorial Reviews

12/01/2015
Gr 4–6—Besties Olivia and Piper have spent a great deal of their 11 years together, and now it's time to tag team middle school. The girls pass a notebook back and forth to stay connected when their daily face time is limited to one measly French class. They fill the pages with notes, text message printouts, a classmate's blog posts, gratitude lists, and other keepsakes for posterity. When Piper's parents promise her a birthday party with 12 friends, the girls admit they must branch out in order to populate a gathering filled with enough drama to rival Piper's favorite soap opera. They capitalize on an eclectic list of school club offerings to expand their duo, in a quest that will determine whether differing interests lead to different friends. A cousin to Rachel Renée Russell's "Dork Diaries" (S. & S.) and the like, this is a gentler version of middle school, as the girls support each other through familiar trials such as overcoming shyness, making new friends, dealing with lunchroom anxiety, and coping with crushes. While the sweet protagonists may be refreshing to some, the book lacks the drama that makes other chronicle-style tales so popular, until the action picks up near the very end. The main characters' lengthy notes often contain too much backstory to be believable correspondence between two best friends, and the secondary characters disappointingly lack diversity. VERDICT An additional purchase that will be enjoyed by strong readers eager to devour realistic fiction with a multimedia slant.—Lindsay Jensen, Nashville Public Library

School Library Journal

2015-11-11
Sixth-grade friends chronicle their transition to middle school in a shared journal. When best friends Piper and Olivia discover they have only one class together, they start a shared journal to communicate with each other. While the girls vow to remain best friends, each feels socially adrift at school. Piper's unexpected opportunity to have a special birthday party motivates the girls to devise a plan to join school clubs in order to widen their social circles. From badminton to spelling bees, the girls valiantly search for a club that suits them, with some comical and a few calamitous results. Leavitt and Mellom address the self-consciousness and uncertainties of navigating social life in middle school. Their astute observations also reveal the girls' family concerns: Piper yearns for personal attention amid her bevy of siblings, while Olivia longs for her father's time and approval. As each girl struggles to find her niche, their journal entries become increasingly self-reflective. With their interests diverging, their friendship reaches a crisis point as the date of Piper's party approaches. The book's format, featuring journal entries between the girls, emails, text messages, and blog posts, combines with Dening's whimsical artwork to create the feel of a well-tended journal. Leavitt and Mellom's humorous and perceptive tale deftly explores the quandary of how to sustain a cherished friendship while nurturing individual growth. (Fiction. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews