MADAME SQUIDLEY AND BEANIE

Beatrice Kingsley, Beanie, has spent the summer hanging out with her younger brother Jeremiah—Jerm—and their neighbor and Beanie’s best friend Charles, who has to wear a back brace when at home. Now she’s in fifth grade and wants to put that behind her. She wants to be a part of the popular crowd often called the “snob squad.” Her mom, however, who in the past has been loads of fun, has an illness the doctors can’t diagnose or treat and Beanie has to do extra work at home. Geeky, overly friendly Ernestine seems to lurk around every corner, and the popular girls won’t pay any attention to Beanie. Through a series of realistic events, Beanie comes to realize that Charles is a true friend and that popular is in the mind of the beholder. Beanie is sometimes mean and sometimes does exactly the opposite of what she should do to get what she wants. In short, Mead has done her usual good job of creating realistic characters who worry about and then solve real problems. Fans of Junebug will enjoy Beanie. (Fiction. 8-12)