The Best Worst Thing

Maggie is worried.

She's starting middle school, and she suddenly sees injustice and danger everywhere--in her history textbook, on the playground, in her neighborhood, on the news. How can anyone be safe when there's a murderer on the loose, a bully about to get a gun for his twelfth birthday, rabbits being held captive for who-knows-what next door, and an older sister being mysteriously consumed by adolescence? Maggie doesn't like any of it, so she devises intricate ways of controlling her own world--and a larger, more dangerous plan for protecting everyone else.

Here is a simply told, deeply felt, and perceptive novel about learning to let go of what you cannot control, from an exciting new talent.

Kathleen Lane lives in Portland, Oregon, where she writes, teaches, and cohosts the art and literary event series SHARE.