Emotions & Feelings, Friendship, Peer Pressure 

“Masterly. . . . Sensitively explores togetherness, aloneness, betrayal and love.” —The New York Times Book Review2016 Honor Book in Fiction, Boston Globe Horn Book AwardA NYT Editors' Choice and NYT Notable Children's Books of 2015This brilliant novel by Newbery Medal winner Rebecca Stead explores multiple perspectives on the bonds and limits of friendship.   Bridge is an accident survivor who’s wondering why she’s still alive. Emily has new curves and an almost-boyfriend who wants a certain kind of picture. Tabitha sees through everybody’s games—or so she tells the world. The three girls are best friends with one rule: No fighting. Can it get them through seventh grade?    This year everything is different for Sherm Russo as he gets to know Bridge Barsamian. What does it mean to fall for a girl—as a friend?    On Valentine’s Day, an unnamed high school girl struggles with a betrayal. How long can she hide in plain sight?   Each memorable character navigates the challenges of love and change in this captivating novel. Praise for Goodbye StrangerSix Starred ReviewsPublishers Weekly Best Books of 2015School Library Journal Best Books of 2015Booklist Editor’s Choice 2015The Horn Book’s Fanfare: Best Books of 2015The Washington Post Best Books of 2015The New York Times Notable Children’s Books of 2015“This astonishingly profound novel is not your average middle-school friendship tale.” —The Horn Book, Starred “Stead shows how strongly love of all kinds can smooth the juddering path toward adulthood. Winsome, bighearted, and altogether rewarding.” —Booklist, Starred “[Stead] captures the stomach-churning moments of a misstep or an unplanned betrayal and reworks these events with grace, humor, and polish into possibilities for kindness and redemption. Superb.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred“This memorable story about female friendships, silly bets, different kinds of love, and bad decisions is authentic in detail and emotion.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred “Filled with humor [and] delightful coincidences. . . . An immensely satisfying addition for Stead’s many fans.” —School Library Journal, Starred"The author as usual deftly interweaves her plot strands into an organic whole, and between the multifocal plot and the exploration on growth and self-recognition . . . deeply explores mistakes, and forgiveness, and growing away from people as well as toward them."—The Bulletin, Starred “This eloquent story of friendship, first love, and identity will resonate powerfully with readers.” —VOYA, Perfect Ten"Stead raises questions about whether a relationship can survive change. If someone makes a mistake, can you forgive the person, if not the act? Can two people reconcile, if they are both willing to process what happened? Or is the change more systemic--has one of you become a stranger? . . . It's a question all of the characters ask themselves at some point in Stead's perfectly synchronized novel." —Shelf Awareness - from Amzon