Goodbye Stranger, by Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb Books) is not a new book, but it is one of the most fully nuanced stories of middle school that I’ve read.

The three main characters, Bridge, Emily and Tabitha have been friends forever. The story opens as they begin seventh grade and their interests begin to diverge. Bridge, who randomly puts on cat ears on day and then becomes attached to them, is the quirky one and the main character; Emily is athletic and outgoing and begins to hang with the popular crowd; and Tabitha is a budding feminist/social justice advocate.

Stead does an outstanding job of showing how, even as their interests and worlds expand in different directions, the three remain friends. Also, all three main characters have stable families and good sibling relationships, which I found refreshing. Not every middle schooler hates or resents their parents or their siblings and I appreciate Stead taking this different, less-clichéd route.

Also, even though there is certainly angst in the story, from divorce to cyberbullying and intruder drills, Stead writes about the girls’ lives in such a fully developed way that these things do not dominate the story. We still get to see and enjoy the three girls’ friendship, learn a bit about Tabitha’s Indian heritage, and watch Bridge’s growing friendship — he is not her boyfriend — with Sherman Russo.

The chapters are interwoven with a second story line; an unnamed character speaking in second person. This is an unusual authorial device, but I think it works quite well. It made me sit up and pay attention. In this story line we see the narrator come to terms with the end of one of her own childhood friendships. The reader really appreciates how, although the narrator knows her friend is toxic, it is still very hard to cut her ties. This device gives the story another dimension and serves as a good reminder that the friendship between Bridge, Emily and Tabitha is not something to take for granted.

The powerful thing about middle-grade literature is that often the characters are figuring out who they are, what they stand for, and what their values are. It can be dramatic or it can be quiet, or it can be a mixture, but when it’s done well it is very compelling. Stead hits it out of the park with this one.

In Goodbye Stranger, Emily is ready to kiss boys, while Bridge is most decidedly not. Neither one pressures or shames the other as their paths diverge. How refreshing!

Meanwhile, there are so many middle-grade books that deserve to be discovered and I have only so much room. Consequently, I have decided to occasionally share websites that post other suggestions. For example, here is a middle grade books gift guide, I recently found:

https://redcanoereader.com/middle-grade-books-gift-guide-2018/

I hope you all have a chance to read many marvelous books over the holidays. See you next year!