Calling all Raina Telgemeier fans! The Newbery Honor–winning author of Roller Girl is back with a heartwarming novel about starting middle school, surviving your embarrassing family, and the Renaissance Faire.

 

Eleven-year-old Imogene (Impy) has grown up with two parents working at the Renaissance Faire, and she’s eager to begin her own training as a squire. First, though, she’ll need to prove her bravery. Luckily Impy has just the quest in mind—she’ll go to public school after a life of being homeschooled! But it’s not easy to act like a noble knight-in-training in middle school. Impy falls in with a group of girls who seem really nice (until they don’t) and starts to be embarrassed of her thrift shop apparel, her family’s unusual lifestyle, and their small, messy apartment. Impy has always thought of herself as a heroic knight, but when she does something really mean in order to fit in, she begins to wonder whether she might be more of a dragon after all.  

 

As she did in Roller Girl, Victoria Jamieson perfectly—and authentically—captures the bittersweetness of middle school life with humor, warmth, and understanding.

 

★ “Readers will cheer [Imogene’s] victories, wince at her stumbles, and likely demand visits to the nearest faire themselves to sample the wares and fun.”—Kirkus, starred review

 

A New York Times Editor’s Choice • An Autumn Kids’ Indie Next List top pick • A Boston Globe Best Children’s Book • A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year • A Kirkus Reviews Best Book • A New York Public Library Notable Children’s Book • A Southern Living Best Children’s Book • A Little Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List book • An ALA Notable book • A VOYA Top Shelf pick • A CCBC Choices book