The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks (Lottie Brooks #1)

After Lottie Brooks’s BFF Molly moves to Australia during the summer before sixth grade, the Brighton 12-year-old starts writing in a diary to distract herself. Conversational entries punctuated with wry stick-figure art reveal Lottie’s many worries about navigating secondary school alone: she hates her hair, she blushes when anyone talks to her, and, worst of all (according to Lottie), she’s “incredibly lacking in the chest department.” She devises a plan to reinvent herself, but despite her best efforts, blunders and awkward moments lurk around every corner. As the school year progresses, Lottie struggles to navigate a shifting home life and her mother’s pregnancy while maintaining her long-distance relationship with Molly. And though attempts to befriend two popular mean girls fall flat, Lottie soon finds easy friendship with sporty classmate Jess. The protagonist recounts with self-effacing charm and candor many embarrassing trials from the first few months of school. Kirby (Hurrah for Gin, for adults) has a knack for devising situations of tween humiliation, communicated via guileless narration and clever illustrations. Most characters cue as white; Jess is of Jamaican descent. Ages 8–12. Agent: Chloe Seager, Madeleine Milburn Literary. (July)