March 6, 2017
In her first children’s book, cartoonist Libenson (The Pajama Diaries) offers strikingly different visions of seventh grade through two very dissimilar narrators. School is stressful for shy, quiet Emmie; Katie, meanwhile, is breezily popular, confident, and beautiful. With frizzy hair and hunched shoulders, Emmie shows up in tiny vignettes, sandwiched between blocks of text, that make her look as small and insignificant as she feels. Katie’s chapters, by contrast, are big, splashy panels that reflect her outgoing personality (“I’m just your average teenage girl,” she says after being offered movie roles and the crown of homecoming queen). Emmie and Katie share a crush on classmate Tyler, and when a sappy love note Emmie writes to Tyler as a joke is made public, Emmie is humiliated. Katie rises to her defense, but Emmie eventually learns to speak up for herself, realizing that embarrassment isn’t the end of the world and being social isn’t as impossible as she thought. A well-executed twist will have readers flipping back to see what they missed while cheering the strides made by Libenson’s no-longer-invisible heroine. Ages 8–12. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House.

July 1, 2017
The main narrative follows a day in the life of super-shy seventh grader Emmie, who rarely speaks to a soul at school; occasional sections follow Katie, super-popular and impossibly perfect (she gets straight As, her parents have never embarrassed her, and everyone wants to be her BFF). Emmie loves to draw and fills her narration with amusingly labeled doodles, while Katie's story is told comic-style. When a classmate finds a note Emmie wrote about the boy she likes and shares it with everyone, Emmie goes from feeling completely invisible to feeling embarrassingly visible, with all her classmates staring and laughing at her. Both text and illustrations contain appropriately kidlike descriptions of her social anxiety (a squeezy feeling in my stomach ) along with humorous examples of the various horrors of middle school (an illustration shows a spotlight shining on Emmie as she changes clothes for gym class). The more visible (and satisfyingly confident and outspoken) Emmie becomes, the less visible Katie becomes, until she completely disappears--a no-longer-needed coping mechanism that existed only in Emmie's imagination and drawings. Libenson's clever tale will entertain readers in the throes of middle school as well as younger students both wary of and intrigued by their near future. jennifer m. brabander

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2017
In this clever tale, super-shy seventh grader Emmie rarely speaks to a soul at school but loves to draw. Occasional comics-style sections follow super-popular, impossibly perfect "Katie." After a classmate shares Emmie's note about her crush with everyone, Emmie goes from feeling invisible to feeling embarrassingly visible. But as Emmie becomes more satisfyingly confident, Katie gradually disappears--a no-longer-needed coping mechanism that existed only in Emmie's drawings.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

"This is middle grade fiction at its best. A fantastic debut novel with plenty of laughs and tons of heart. Invisible Emmie is unforgettable!" — Lincoln Peirce, author of Big Nate

"This funny and heartfelt tale will ring true for anyone who's ever felt invisible." — Victoria Jamieson, Newbery Honor author-illustrator of Roller Girl

"Clever, funny work by a great cartoonist. Reading Invisible Emmie sums up middle school: You laugh, you cry, you get beaned in the head with a volleyball." — Stephan Pastis, author of Timmy Failure

"In her first children's book, cartoonist Libenson offers strikingly different visions of seventh grade through two very dissimilar narrators. A well-executed twist will have readers flipping back to see what they missed while cheering the strides made by Libenson's no-longer-invisible heroine." — Publishers Weekly

"With all-too-familiar middle-school drama and an empowering lesson about speaking up and bravely facing down embarrassment, this should find an easy audience among fans of Wimpy Kid or Dork Diaries books." — Booklist

"Many readers will recognize themselves in Emmie and her friends, who are at once self-conscious and eager to be seen for who they are. A highly relatable middle grade drama." — School Library Journal

"Libenson's clever tale will entertain readers in the throes of middle school as well as younger students both wary of and intrigued by their near future." — The Horn Book