UNSTUCK

Award-winning author Barbara Dee returns with a novel about creativity, friendship, family - and how to find the words you need most.

Lyla is thrilled when her seventh grade class begins a daily creative writing project. For the past year she's been writing a brilliant fantasy novel in her head, and here's her chance to get it on paper! The plot is super complicated, with battle scenes and witches and a mysterious one-toed-beast, although basically it's a semi-autobiographical story about an overlooked girl who has to rescue her beautiful, highly accomplished older sister.

But writing a fantasy novel turns out to be harder than simply imagining one, and pretty soon Lyla finds herself stuck, experiencing the sort of panic that she realizes is writer's block. Part of the problem is that she's trying to impress certain people - like Rania, her best friend who's definitely pulling away, and Ms. Bowman, the coolest teacher at school. Plus, there's the pressure of meeting the deadline for the town writing contest. A few years ago, Lyla's superstar sister Dahlia came in second, and this time Lyla is determined to win first prize.

Finally Lyla confides about her writing problems to Dahlia, who is dealing with her own academic stress as she applies to college. That's when she learns Dahlia's secret, which is causing a very different type of writer's block. Can Lyla rescue her surprisingly vulnerable big sister, both on the page and in real life?

Barbara Dee is the author of over a dozen highly acclaimed middle grade novels. Her books frequently appear on "best of" lists and have received numerous starred reviews. She has authored viral blog posts about inclusivity in children's book publishing, and frequently appears at schools, conferences, and in media outlets to discuss her work and the handling of sensitive topics in middle grade fiction.