Crystal Allen has written another amazing book with THE
MAGNIFICENT MYA TIBBS, SPIRIT WEEK SHOWDOWN, out now from Balzer and
Bray/Harper Collins. Mya is funny and big-hearted and spunky and sometimes
wonderfully clueless to the truth about the people around her. MAGNIFICENT MYA
is a story about many things: friendship and bullying and family and siblings
and the goofiness of school Spirit Week. Mya learns that not all friends are
true or even truthful and that gossip and rumors are hurtful and that sometimes
the least likely suspects can become your truest friends once you really get to
know them.
Like her other novels (HOW LAMAR’S BAD PRANK WON HIM A
BUBBA-SIZED TROPHY (2011) and THE LAURA LINE (2013), MYA combines humor and
heart as it navigates serious issues. Mya doesn’t know that her best friend
Naomi has some huge ulterior motives for their friendship. She doesn’t know
that “Mean” Connie Tate might not be so mean after all. Mya doesn’t know that
she might not be the best sister on the planet right now to her brother Nugget.
In short, Mya doesn’t know a lot of things and when she finds herself paired
with Connie not Naomi as Spirit Week partners, everything Mya believes gets tossed
away as she attempts to navigate through crisis after crisis.
As, by the way are her skills at teaching writing to
reluctant readers, at putting herself out into the community and walking the walk
of a writer who gives back to her readers. Like the characters she creates, she
is inspiring and funny and generous. She knows how important it is to believe
in yourself and your ability to create regardless of circumstance, and in full
disclosure, she has frequently kicked her metaphor cowgirl boots into my
metaphor butt to remind me of that.
An inspiring kind of lady, my friend Crystal Allen. I would totally be her Spirit Week partner!
So ka-clunk your
cowgirl or cowboy boots to a bookstore and get your copy of MAGNIFICENT MYA
right now!
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