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Pity Party

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Pity Party

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Overview

Discover an "absurd, funny, and thought-provoking" book perfect for "anyone who has ever felt socially awkward or inadequate" (Louis Sachar, author of Holes and the Wayside School series).
Dear weird toes, crooked nose, stressed out, left out, freaked out

Dear missing parts, broken hearts, picked-on, passed up, misunderstood,

Dear everyone, you are cordially invited, come as you are, this party's for you

Welcome to Pity Party, where the social anxieties that plague us all are twisted 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 personality test, a fortune teller, a letter from the Department of Insecurity, and an interactive Choose Your Own Catastrophe.

Come to the party for a grab bag of delightfully dark stories that ultimately offers a life-affirming reminder that there is hope and humor to be found amid our misery.

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About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316417372
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	04/12/2022
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.45(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.85(d)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

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.

From the B&N Reads Blog

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Editorial Reviews

Praise for Pity Party

"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.

"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

From the Publisher

11/30/2020
Introducing a cast of tween characters experiencing insecurities and growing pains, this welcoming, often ironic collection of short stories reflects on the pity party that is middle school. In “Odd,” Julian’s aversion to odd numbers results in trouble with stairs. Cora’s wish that mean people would break out in spots has unexpected results in “Ugly Duck.” And in “Gio X,” a boy receives a mysterious package that might have the power to “upgrade” his friendless existence. The book contains stories that start and stop, only to be continued later; ads from “our sponsor”; a personality quiz; a “Choose Your Own Catastrophe” story; and a literal invitation to the pity party (“Dear missing parts, broken hearts/ picked on, passed up/ misunderstood/ sitting alone”). This eclectic volume good-naturedly explores common tween experiences, though the mixing of stories about garden-variety social anxieties and diagnosable disorders creates a false equivalence, and “Odd” may prove triggering for readers with OCD. In stories that largely follow the same formula—conflict is introduced, a Twilight Zone–like twist changes characters’ perspectives—Lane (The Best Worst Thing) offers a captivating distraction from self-pity, and creative variations and varied genre inclusions will keep readers’ attention. Ages 8–12. Agent: Charlotte Sheedy, Charlotte Sheedy Literary. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 11/01/2020
Gr 3–7—This party starts with a "cordial invitation" in verse to all those who don't quite fit in. The invitation sets the tone for the rest of book, which is a collection of tangentially connected stories interspersed with witty quizzes, advertisements, and choose-your-own-path prompts. The stories follow different students at Bridger Middle School. They are, on the whole, a diverse student body and include a student who uses they/them pronouns, a student whose family lives in a converted school bus, and a student with an unnamed anxiety disorder. Lane weaves elements of magical realism throughout many of her stories. One standout is "True Story," which follows Caleb, who is able to stand up to his bullies with help from a magical mood ring from a thrift store. Another standout is "Behaviorally Challenged," in which Lexi and Tashi stand up to the Plus, a new system where students are sorted into four different groups based on their personality and are forced to spend their recreational time at school with only the students in their group. The various format interludes are another highlight of this unique text. These include a letter from The Department of Insecurity, the Chart of Relative Calamity, and more. Lane has written a heartfelt and relatable book filled with moments of darkness and humor, plus a little magic. VERDICT Perfect for anyone who has ever felt out of place in a social situation. Hand to fans of Jason Reynolds's Look Both Ways. A first purchase for all libraries serving middle schoolers.—Katharine Gatcomb, Portsmouth P.L., NH

School Library Journal

2020-11-18
“Dear weird toes / crooked nose, / stressed out, left out / freaked out / … / This party’s for you.”
Welcome to Bridger Middle School, home of the titular Pity Party. This grab bag of vignettes condenses a world of early adolescent anxieties and excitements into a single volume progressing at whirlwind pace. With the exception of the arc story entitled “The Voice,” each vignette introduces a new protagonist and problem. Here the mundane collides with the fantastical, real-world pathologies and privations made light of through magical realism and a healthy dose of Gen-Z hyperbole. An ill-treated loner wishes everyone who’s ever been unkind to her might feel what it is to be ugly—to disastrous effect; a thrift-store mood ring that never lies pushes a closeted gay boy to be true to himself. OCD spirals in the subway and harmful self-talk exist comfortably alongside a human chair, literal death by embarrassment (farting in class, oh, the humanity!), and social media followers dogging one’s every step. Not all segments resonate; the sickeningly saccharine Happy Head and Happy Friends ad spots and a too-blasé letter from the Department of Insecurity come off as a bit too self-aware while the simple, unapologetic absurdity of the ”choose your own catastrophe” misadventures invariably draw laughter but don’t quite fit with the rest of the story—though perhaps that’s the point. Swaab's illustrations offer suitably ironic visuals.
An artful, amusingly quirky tour of middle school angst. (Fiction. 11-13)

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