Title: How I Survived Middle School - Nancy Krulik
Media: Books
Approx length: 13 books, each one around 100-115 pages
Where to find it: Bookstores, libraries, or the Open Library archive, which has a scan of a collection for the first three books.
What is it, in summary?: A girl named Jenny McAfee gets ditched by her best friend, Addie Wilson, who leaves her behind to join the resident clique of "popular" girls (or the "Pops") on the first day of middle school. Jenny finds a group of new friends, who stick with her through thick and thin as she navigates middle school life and deals with bullying from the Pops.
What do you love about it?: I read some of the books as a kid, and I remember enjoying them for what they were, especially because of the quizzes and activities included in them. It's overall just a fun, light read, and I appreciate that it generally promoted positive messages for young girls despite the commercialism (the books had a lot of peddling for Scholastic, which is a problematic as hell company, by having Jenny be a fan of a site for middle school crafts and activities with a real link that used to redirect to Scholastic's site).
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I'll admit the first thing I'd want would be a post-canon scenario where Jenny and Addie actually reconcile and become friends again, since I remember being pretty miffed as a kid that the series ended on a regular book with a standalone story that didn't have any resolution to Jenny and Addie's feud. That said, I'd be fine with basically anything that's similar to the books' tone—fluffy, funny, just something sweet and undemanding with Jenny and her friends (Chloe, Marc, Rachel, Felicia, Josh, etc.) hanging out and having a good time. They're all kids who range from eleven to thirteen years old, so I would prefer nothing overly shippy or romantic (two of Jenny's friends dated in the books, but it was all very innocent).
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: The first book (Can You Get an F in Lunch?) focuses on Jenny and Addie's relationship the most and is only about 100 pages, so it's a quick read you can use to get familiar with most of the characters from the get-go. The fourth book, The New Girl, is the one that introduces a new member of Jenny's friend group from that point on (a British transfer student girl named Sam), but it's not a big deal if you don't include the character.
Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): None; the closest to one might be bullying because of the Pops, but their antics are relatively light and no one ever gets seriously hurt.
How I Survived Middle School - Nancy Krulik
Media: Books
Approx length: 13 books, each one around 100-115 pages
Where to find it: Bookstores, libraries, or the Open Library archive, which has a scan of a collection for the first three books.
What is it, in summary?: A girl named Jenny McAfee gets ditched by her best friend, Addie Wilson, who leaves her behind to join the resident clique of "popular" girls (or the "Pops") on the first day of middle school. Jenny finds a group of new friends, who stick with her through thick and thin as she navigates middle school life and deals with bullying from the Pops.
What do you love about it?: I read some of the books as a kid, and I remember enjoying them for what they were, especially because of the quizzes and activities included in them. It's overall just a fun, light read, and I appreciate that it generally promoted positive messages for young girls despite the commercialism (the books had a lot of peddling for Scholastic, which is a problematic as hell company, by having Jenny be a fan of a site for middle school crafts and activities with a real link that used to redirect to Scholastic's site).
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I'll admit the first thing I'd want would be a post-canon scenario where Jenny and Addie actually reconcile and become friends again, since I remember being pretty miffed as a kid that the series ended on a regular book with a standalone story that didn't have any resolution to Jenny and Addie's feud. That said, I'd be fine with basically anything that's similar to the books' tone—fluffy, funny, just something sweet and undemanding with Jenny and her friends (Chloe, Marc, Rachel, Felicia, Josh, etc.) hanging out and having a good time. They're all kids who range from eleven to thirteen years old, so I would prefer nothing overly shippy or romantic (two of Jenny's friends dated in the books, but it was all very innocent).
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: The first book (Can You Get an F in Lunch?) focuses on Jenny and Addie's relationship the most and is only about 100 pages, so it's a quick read you can use to get familiar with most of the characters from the get-go. The fourth book, The New Girl, is the one that introduces a new member of Jenny's friend group from that point on (a British transfer student girl named Sam), but it's not a big deal if you don't include the character.
Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): None; the closest to one might be bullying because of the Pops, but their antics are relatively light and no one ever gets seriously hurt.