Getting ready to start middle school? Well, you'll need to know what to expect. Get to know every person you'll meet and how they can help (and who to stay away from!). "Mahoney authentically captures the universal indignities of middle school, the challenges of self-discovery, and the joy of making true friends." -- Publishers Weekly , Starred Review Dear Lou, You've been asking and asking about what middle school is like, but I just thought they were annoying-younger-sister questions. Even though I am almost done with my first year, I can still remember when I thought middle school was a mystery, so I'll try to give you a leg up. I know middle school is a lot to figure out. But since I still haven't worked it all out yet, I'm happy to help as much as I can. That's what big sisters are for. Love, Gus Discover the ins and outs of middle school in this guide from an older sister to her younger sister. From tackling a new building to meeting new people like the assistant principal, the class pet, the Huggers, the renegade, the tomato kid, your old best friend's new best friend, this is a must-read for everyone starting middle school. With wit and warmth, Kristin Mahoney, author of Annie's Life in Lists, delivers heartwarming, pitch-perfect advice, ideal for anyone nervously approaching middle school. "Mahoney authentically captures the universal indignities of middle school, the challenges of self-discovery, and the joy of making true friends.” — Publishers Weekly,  Starred Review  “ What this novel’s target audience wants is reassurance, which Gus’s confused yet consoling voice provides in spades.” — NYT Book Review "Smart, funny, and well paced." -- School Library Journal "A pitch-perfect must-read for tweens seeking comfort about growing up."-- Booklist "Highly recommended travelogue for those just entering uncharted territory. Amusing, enlightening, and ideal for a final read just before middle school." -- Kirkus Reviews Kristin Mahoney is a former magazine editor and elementary school reading teacher with a master's degree in elementary education and teaching literacy from Bank Street College of Education. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Learning Network blog, McCall's magazine, and the SCBWI "Write This" Gallery. Annie's Life in Lists was her debut novel. Kristin has lived in both Brooklyn and in a small town that resembles Clover Gap. She now lives in New Jersey with her husband and two daughters. Follow her on Twitter at @KMcMahoney. I wish I could tell you that the first person I saw on the first day of school was someone I knew. It was not.   I made Dad drop me off two blocks from school that morning. This was partly because I wasn’t sure what the routine was in middle school, and I didn’t want to be the only kid whose parent took them right to the front door. But this was mostly because Dad’s car was in the shop again and--as you may recall from the first day of school, Lou--he had borrowed the radio-station van to drive for a few days. Some people’s parents have a clean, fancy company car to drive for work; lucky us that our dad gets a bright green van that actually has wold: your favorite oldies painted on the side in orange letters. For first-day-of-school arrival? No thank you.   As I rounded the corner by Meridian Middle, I saw a crowd of kids who were all complete strangers. They also all looked way older than me. And they seemed like they all knew each other. I knew that more than half the kids at Meridian Middle were coming from a different elementary school than ours, but it still seemed like I should know someone. I started wondering if I was in the right place.   Turns out, I was not. And apparently I had I am in sixth grade--please help me written on my forehead, because a teacher holding a clipboard actually pointed at me and yelled across the heads of the other kids, “You! Glasses! Blue backpack! Sixth grade?”   You wouldn’t think that “glasses” and “blue backpack” would be sufficient identifiers. I mean, other kids had glasses and blue backpacks. But I guess this teacher’s pointing was laser-sharp, because about a hundred kids turned and looked right at me after he yelled.   “Um, yes?” I answered, almost in a whisper (and still wondering where the heck everyone I knew was).   “What was that?”   “Yes. Sixth,” I said, slightly louder.   “Back door!” the teacher yelled. “Didn’t your parents get the email?”   By this point the teacher was making his way over, clapping students on the back, saying hello, and telling some of them to spit out their gum. He was wearing a golf shirt with the school logo on it. The shirt strained over his belly and was tucked snugly into his khaki pants. I wondered how he got his shirt to stay tucked so tight, especially with a big belly. Did he buy extra-long shirts?   “Did your parents get the email?” he asked again.   “I’m not sure?” I said. Since the weekend before school started had been one of our weekends at Dad’s a