Middle school friendships can be a source of great joy one day, then pain and anxiety the next. Friends and Frenemies examines the complexities of friendship and helps young readers to start building communication tools that will last a lifetime. Loaded with quizzes, polls, activities, and advice from real kids, Friends and Frenemies is the tween guide to middle school friendships. No one wants to be trapped in toxic friendships, learn how to keep relationships healthy early in life!

Friends and enemies--sometimes it's hard to tell the two apart. Especially when some people seem to be both. In her bestselling book Mean Girls, Hayley DiMarco counseled teens about how to handle mean girls at school or church who were making their lives miserable. But what's a girl to do when her own friends are the ones doing those mean and hurtful things--being her BFF one day but betraying her the next? Frenemies helps girls figure it out. In this new book from big-sister mentor Hayley DiMarco, teens will learn why friends act the way they do and how they should react when the mean people in their lives are the people they love and trust the most.

Frenemies features fictional narratives paired with firsthand advice from a licensed psychologist to help preteen and teen girls manage conflicts and recognize the qualities of a good friend. Topics include making new friends, trash talking, gossiping and spreading rumors, jealousy, and questioning feelings for a guy friend. Also covered are family situations such as strict versus loose parents, financial stress, and suspecting a friend is being abused. Throughout the book, Talk About It questions encourage discussion. Additional resources, a glossary, and an index are also included. Frenemies will leave readers feeling confident to make smart, healthy decisions when it comes to friendships and conflict. Strong, Beautiful Girls is a series in Essential Library, an imprint of ABDO Publishing Company.

After a humiliating tumble down the social ladder, Kacey Simon is back on top, where she belongs. She's lost her lisp, traded in her Coke-bottle glasses for contacts, and learned that brutal honesty isn't always the best policy. Best of all, she's made up with Zander and her BFFs and reclaimed her spot as Gravity's lead singer. Her life is pitch-perfect--until Zander's ex-girlfriend, Stevie, arrives in town. Marquette Middle hasn't seen a girl with such killer style and impressive vocals since... well, Kacey herself. Boys want to date Stevie, girls want to be her, and Kacey wants to boot her butt out of Chicago ASAP. But when Kacey reverts to her mean-girl ways to take Stevie down, will she lose the band--and Zander--for good? It's not easy for a star to share the spotlight, but the show must go on in Meg Haston's stylish and clever sequel to How to Rock Braces and Glasses.

Twelve-year-old Flor faces a bittersweet summer with a pageant, a frenemy, and a hive full of honey in this “sweet and satisfying read about friendship, sisterhood, and change” (Kirkus Reviews). It’s the summer before eighth grade and Flor is stuck at home and working at her family’s mattress store, while her best friend goes off to band camp (probably to make new friends). It becomes even worse when she’s asked to compete in the local honey pageant. This means Flor has to spend the summer practicing her talent (recorder) and volunteering (helping a recluse bee-keeper) with Candice, her former friend who’s still bitter about losing the pageant crown to Flor when they were in second grade. And she can’t say no. Then there’s the possibility that Flor and her family are leaving to move in with her mom’s family in New Jersey. And with how much her mom and dad have been fighting lately, is it possible that her dad may not join them? Flor can’t let that happen. She has a lot of work to do.

In this razor-sharp novel for fans of When Life Gives You Lululemons, a Manhattan socialite turns her spin instructor into a fitness superstar to impress her friends. But can she keep her little project under control? Or has she created a monster? Julia Summers seems to have it all: a sprawling Upper East Side apartment, a successful husband, and two adorable children attending the best private school in the city. She relishes wielding influence over her well-heeled girlfriends . . . but her star appears to be fading. That’s why, when stranded in Manhattan for the summer as her entire crowd flees to the Hamptons, Julia is on the hunt for the next big thing that will make her the envy of her friends and put her back on top. Enter Flame, the new boutique gym in her neighborhood. Seductive and transformative, Flame’s spin classes are exactly what Julia needs—and demure, naïve instructor Tatum is her ticket in. But rebranding Tatum as a trendy guru proves hard work, and Julia’s triumphant comeback at summer’s end doesn’t quite go as planned. Tatum begins to grasp just how much power her newfound stardom holds, and when things suddenly get ugly, Julia realizes she’s in way over her head. Julia’s life is already spiraling out of control when her husband is arrested for fraud and bribery. As her so-called friends turn their backs on her, and Tatum pursues her own agenda, Julia is forced to rethink everything she knew about her world to reclaim her perfect life. But does she even want it back? Witty and incisive, Sophie Littlefield and Lauren Gershell’s That’s What Frenemies Are For provides an engrossing glimpse into the cutthroat moms’ club of the Upper East Side. Advance praise for That’s What Frenemies are For “Pack up your beach bag and put your phone on Do Not Disturb: This modern-day Pygmalion story is juicy fun! Fans of Lauren Weisberger and Jill Kargman will delight in this delicious romp about how the other half lives.”—Jamie Brenner, bestselling author of The Forever Summer and Drawing Home “Whether this book hits a little too close to home or offers the perfect escape, readers will love the insanity of Julia’s social ups and downs in this clever novel.”—Laurie Gelman, author of Class Mom

After a humiliating tumble down the social ladder, Kacey Simon is back on top, where she belongs. She's lost her lisp, traded in her Coke-bottle glasses for contacts, and learned that brutal honesty isn't always the best policy. Best of all, she's made up with Zander and her BFFs and reclaimed her spot as Gravity's lead singer. Her life is pitch-perfect--until Zander's ex-girlfriend, Stevie, arrives in town. Marquette Middle hasn't seen a girl with such killer style and impressive vocals since... well, Kacey herself. Boys want to date Stevie, girls want to be her, and Kacey wants to boot her butt out of Chicago ASAP. But when Kacey reverts to her mean-girl ways to take Stevie down, will she lose the band--and Zander--for good? It's not easy for a star to share the spotlight, but the show must go on in Meg Haston's stylish and clever sequel to How to Rock Braces and Glasses.