Leah vs. Art

Leah’s ambitious extracurricular plans cause trouble in this second book in the Team Awkward middle grade series that’s The Baby-Sitters Club meets Dork Diaries.

How organized, driven Leah was born into her family, she’ll never know. They’re as different as can be. For example, while she’s trying to finish unpacking boxes from their move and get to bed at a decent time, her parents are listening to indie rock records and eating ice cream sundaes. Sometimes it feels like she’s the only responsible one in the house!

So when her parents sign her up for art club—to “loosen her up” and “get her creative juices flowing”—Leah decides to ditch in favor of Quiz Bowl, which meets at the same time. But as she secretly attends Quiz Bowl and lies to her parents, her competitive spirit begins to take over, threatening her scheme and her friendships.

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, 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.