You Go First

Funny and poignant, Newbery Medalist and New York Times bestseller Erin Entrada Kelly’s You Go First is an engaging exploration of family, bullying, word games, art, and the ever-complicated world of middle school friendships. In a starred review, School Library Journal writes that Erin Entrada Kelly can “capture moments of tween anguish with searing honesty.”   Twelve-year-old Charlotte Lockard and eleven-year-old Ben Boxer are separated by more than a thousand miles. On the surface, their lives seem vastly different—Charlotte lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, while Ben is in the small town of Lanester, Louisiana. Charlotte wants to be a geologist and keeps a rock collection in her room. Ben is obsessed with Harry Potter, presidential history, and recycling. But the two have more in common than they think. They’re both highly gifted. They’re both experiencing family turmoil. And they both sit alone at lunch. Over the course of a week, Charlotte and Ben—online friends connected on