Pity Party

Description

For any kid who has ever felt worried, woeful, or weird, a collection of joyfully tragic stories that ultimately offers a life-affirming reminder of just how much misery loves company. Dear weird toes, crooked nose, stressed out, left out, freaked out Dear missing parts, broken hearts, picked on, passed up, misunderstood, sitting alone Dear everyone, you are cordially invited. This party is for you. Welcome to Pity Party, an uproarious grab bag of short fiction. Like Black Mirror for middle graders, it mines and exaggerates the social anxieties that plague us all and twists them into funny, deeply resonant, and ultimately reassuring psychological thrills. There's a story about a mood ring that tells the absolute truth. One about social media followers who literally follow you around. And one about a kid whose wish for a new, improved self is answered when a mysterious box arrives in the mail. There's also a sprinkling of micro-fiction: a personality test (to find out if you have a personality), a fortune teller (that 100% accurately predicts the future), a letter from the Department of Insecurity, and an interactive Choose Your Own Catastrophe. Here is a modern-day middle-grade Twilight Zone targeted squarely at middle schoolers who delight in disdaining their own seemingly miserable lives.

Kathleen Lane lives in Portland, Oregon, where she writes, teaches, cohosts the art and literary event series SHARE, and runs the Create More, Fear Less program (https://createmorefearless.org) that helps young people channel anxiety into art.

Praise for Pity Party Few authors have ever put their fingers on the surreal pulse of the experience of middle school as effectively as Kathleen Lane. Listen to me, readers, this peculiar and downright delightful little book is a veritable lifeline. Grasp it tight.--Betsy Bird, A Fuse #8 Production, School Library Journal In this collection of absurd, funny, and thought- provoking stories, Kathleen Lane shows genuine compassion and empathy for her characters, and even more importantly, for the reader. I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt socially awkward or inadequate - well, to everyone.--Louis Sachar, Author of Holes, and the Wayside School series.