Name Tags and Other Sixth-Grade Disasters

Author: Ginger Garrett

This witty middle-grade novel tackles the internal and external chaos that can come with change, growing up, and forging genuine connections

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Summary

This witty middle-grade novel tackles the internal and external chaos that can come with change, growing up, and forging genuine connections

Description

Fun, funny, and fully heartfelt. Everyone needs true-blue friends like Lizbeth's. SuperChicken for life.
—Kristin L. Gray, author of The Amelia Six and Vilonia Beebe Takes Charge

One of those books that explores difficult topics—divorce, a new school, being dubbed a "weirdo"—with grace and good humor.
—Rebecca Petruck, author of Boy Bites Bug and Steering Toward Normal

This hilarious and heartfelt gem is moving straight to my "favorites" shelf.
—Lisa Lewis Tyre, author of Last in a Long Line of Rebels and Hope in the Holler

Twelve-year-old Lizbeth always has a plan, and those plans have usually worked—until now. No matter what she tries, she can't get rid of her dad's new girlfriend, Claire. And when she and her mom move, Lizbeth has to join a sixth-grade class already in progress, where her teacher makes her wear a name tag and she's seated with three notorious "weirdos."

When faced with mandatory participation in a school talent show, Lizbeth and the Weirdos decide to create self portraits. Reluctantly, Lizbeth finds herself becoming friends with people she thought she had nothing in common with—and coming to terms with the things she can't control.

Critic Reviews

“"While coping with her parents' divorce, a sixth grader inadvertently helps save her school's art program and stands up to bullies. Although forced to move across Atlanta and finish sixth grade in a new school because of her parents' divorce, Lizbeth has a plan to become popular and break up her dad and his new girlfriend, Claire. Having to wear a nametag on her first day and being seated in a pod with the Weirdos are just the start of her plan's unraveling. Lively episodes involving cheese, a SuperChicken graphic novel, an automatic-flush toilet, and more help the lactose-intolerant, cosplay-loving preteen recognize the mean-girl spirit in her class, that her podmates are genuine friends, and that Claire is as fierce as she is. They also balance the real-life anger and trauma Lizbeth experiences from the divorce. Seamlessly woven into the sixth grader's woes are the bullying of Joseph, one of her new friends, and the potential loss of the arts program in her underfunded school. The author also smoothly depicts bullying differences between genders. A satisfying, climactic twist begins resolution to all of these problems while the linked storylines work together to keep any one dilemma from turning the book into an 'issue' novel. Lizbeth presents white on the cover, and the book seems to assume a white default despite its Atlanta setting. Disasters averted in this realistic yet amusing take on sixth grade life."--Kirkus Reviews”

"Disasters averted in this realistic yet amusing take on sixth grade life."—Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Ginger Garrett is the author of many educational books for children as well as the middle-grade novel The Last Monster. Ginger lives in Atlanta with her family and runs a young adult writing program through the public library. You can learn more at