Awkward

Goodreads Synopsis:    Cardinal rule #1 for surviving school: Don't get noticed by the mean kids.

Cardinal rule #2 for surviving school: Seek out groups with similar interests and join them.

On her first day at her new school, Penelope--Peppi--Torres reminds herself of these basics. But when she trips into a quiet boy in the hall, Jaime Thompson, she's already broken the first rule, and the mean kids start calling her the "nerder girlfriend." How does she handle this crisis? By shoving poor Jaime and running away!

Falling back on rule two and surrounding herself with new friends in the art club, Peppi still can't help feeling ashamed about the way she treated Jaime. Things are already awkward enough between the two, but to make matters worse, he's a member of her own club's archrivals--the science club! And when the two clubs go to war, Peppi realizes that sometimes you have to break the rules to survive middle school!

My Thoughts:

-    Great book for anyone who had a club rivalry at school.

-    I love when simple books like this have a great moral message, and this one delivered. It wasn't a preachy or a shove the moral down your throat kind of a approach. It was just average kids learning how to get along with each other and coming together to do something great. 

-    Not everything is black and white. You can like more than one thing, and I love that this book really got that. 

-    The characters were really fun. I liked Peppi and Jamie a lot. There are a lot of side characters, but it wasn't distracting and I was able to keep track of all of them. I couldn't tell you their names, but I know which club they belong to. 

-    I also liked the message of friendship. Peppi and Jamie just wanted to be friends, and it was hard to be friends outside of their groups, but in the end their common interests and friendship won out! 

-    I know I say this a lot, but I really liked the art in this book. I loved the character design, especially Jamie. I just wanted to reach in and ruffle his hair. 

-    This was a fun and cute book. I think the target audience will really enjoy this one! Adults might like it too, but it is geared towards middle grade audiences.