Confessions from the Group Chat By Jodi Meadows New York: Holiday House, 2025. Fiction. 264 pages. Written by the author of Bye Forever, I Guess , Meadows tells the story of Virginia: a relatable girl who has a good heart, but maybe not the best friends. Virginia loves that's she's a part of a popular friend group. However, their popularity means that Virginia hides parts of herself: how much she loves the library and her crush on the super unpopular Grayson. Worse than that, she actively participates in their group chat which tends to center around making fun of people at their school, including Grayson. When Virginia gets in a public fight with the Queen Bee of the group, Virginia finds herself ostracized from the group and the terrible things she's said published on the internet...complete with her name attached to the insults. Virginia becomes a social pariah at school, only talking to fellow social-outcast, Grayson, and an online friend "Knight Errant." I lo...
Inbetweens By Faith Erin Hicks New York: First Second, 2026. Comic. 240 pgs. Twin sisters Sloane and Ash have dreamed about becoming animators since they rode the studio backlot tour on a family trip to Disney World. The first step is spending their summer at a prestigious eight week animation course at a nearby university. The tweens are ecstatic to discover that their animation hero Douglas Frye will even be teaching one of their courses. Unfortunately, Sloane and Ash lose their rose colored glasses pretty quickly. Ash loves animation, but her enthusiasm doesn't immediately translate to skill. Sloane realizes she loves art but that animation isn't the right fit for her. Even Douglas Frye isn't what they expected - he openly prefers the work of white male students and is dismissive of their talented friend Nisha once he realizes she's a girl. It takes courage, friendship, a Studio Ghibli movie night, and advice from a different animation teacher for Sloane and Ash to r...