Joy McCullough writes books and plays from her home in the Seattle area, where she lives with her husband and two children. She is the author of the middle grade novels Across the Pond, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, Not Starring Zadie Louise, Code Red, Kestrel Takes Flight, and Basil & Dahlia, as well as the middle grade series Team Awkward, and the picture books Harriet's Ruffled Feathers, Champ and Major: First Dogs, and The Story of a Book. Her debut novel Blood Water Paint was longlisted for the National Book Award and was a William C. Morris Debut Award Finalist. Visit her at JoyMcCullough.com.

Veeda Bybee is a former journalist and holds an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is the author of Lily and the Great Quake: A San Francisco Earthquake Survival Story, Li on Angel Island, and Shining a Light: Celebrating 40 Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders Who Changed the World. Veeda is also the coauthor of the Team Awkward middle grade series and part of the Rural Voices and Calling the Moon anthologies. She has a rescue golden retriever/cattle dog named Sophie (from Howl's Moving Castle) and fluffy black cat, also from an animal shelter, named Zuko (from Avatar: The Last Airbender). Veeda lives with her family in Nevada where she reads, writes, and bakes.

In this hilarious series launch. . . depictions of open communication and sincere, vulnerable friendship cultivated amid cat-astrophically laugh-out-loud misadventure offer maturing readers an exceptional model for what fulfilling relationships can look like.--Publishers Weekly *STARRED REVIEW* "11/11/24"

"A fresh, witty, and friendship-focused series starter."--Kirkus Reviews "12/15/24"

"Jojo's first-person narration nails the middle-school voice, capturing all the uncertainty that comes with big change as well as the roller coaster of emotions. The foursome's new, tenuous friendship is supported by realistic dialogue from well-developed characters....From a confiscated-phone heist to dealing with her mom's boyfriend being a famous cat-influencer, Jojo faces big changes via a series of hilarious high jinks with her new friends."--Booklist "02/01/2025"

Publisher: Bound to Stay Bound Books

Pub date: 2025-02-11

Length: 184 pages