The Friendship Experiment

by Erin Teagan

Overview

Future scientist Madeline Little is dreading the start of middle school. Nothing has been right since her grandfather died and her best friend changed schools. Maddie would rather help her father in his research lab or write Standard Operating Procedures in her lab notebook than hang out with a bunch of kids who aren’t even her friends. Despite Maddie’s reluctance, some new friends start coming her way—until they discover what she’s written in that secret notebook. And that’s just part of the trouble. Can this future scientific genius find the formula for straightening out her life?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780544636224
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/01/2016
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)
Lexile:	740L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

Erin Teagan is the author of several books for kids, including Survivor Girl, The Friendship Experiment, and three titles about American Girl’s 2018 Girl of the Year, Luciana. She lives with her family in Virginia. Visit her online at erinteagan.com and on Twitter @ErinKTeagan.

Editorial Reviews

09/12/2016
Scientifically minded Madeline Little, an 11-year-old with an inherited blood-clotting disorder, is beginning middle school with two chips on her shoulder. One is fueled by resentment that her best friend has transferred to a private school. The other involves her anger over her parents’ decision to sell her scientist grandfather’s house now that he has died. Madeline’s feelings emerge as sarcasm and meanness toward her peers, but after a series of disasters, she recognizes that although she shares her grandfather’s passion for microbiology, she hasn’t followed his advice: “The most important thing in life is to be kind. Always kind.” This portrait of a complicated preteen contains perhaps a few too many issues and simultaneously occurring crises to be thoroughly explored and convincingly resolved, including Madeline’s struggles with friends old and new, a serious mishap at her father’s lab, and her older sister’s brush with death. Even so, first-time author Teagan underscores the importance of compassion and forgiveness as she provides thoughtful insight into a girl working hard to try to maintain control over a life filled with unwelcome developments. Ages 10–12. Agent: Marie Lamba, Jennifer De Chiara Literary. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

* "Teagan offers a smart, breezy narrative that is both clever and approachable, offering a fresh twist on the familiar topic of middle school angst. Her characters are realistic and funny as they fumble through early adolescence and grapple with the reality of change... Highly enjoyable for aspiring scientists, budding artists, and regular kids." —Kirkus, STARRED review "...first-time author Teagan underscores the importance of compassion and forgiveness as she provides thoughtful insight into a girl working hard to try to maintain control over a life filled with unwelcome developments." —Publishers Weekly "Science-minded readers will cheer to meet their match in Maddie as she conquers her demons and learns what exactly it means to have—and be—a friend." —Booklist "Madeline’s prickly independence and sense of herself...  result in a character whose evolution is highly satisfying." —Horn Book —

From the Publisher

★ 2016-08-02
A middle schooler who wants more homework might sound unusual, but Maddie is not your average sixth-grader.Maddie has known for a long time that she wants to be a scientist. But after her grandfather dies of Alzheimer's, her sister starts to get sicker from the blood disorder that runs in the family, and her best friend goes to a private school that assigns far more homework than Maddie's public school ever will, life gets confusing. She tries to make sense of it in her lab notebook, where she writes standard operating procedures for just about everything, including How to Survive Lunch at a Table of Misfit Know-It-Alls. But when the kids at her lunch table read her SOPs, their feelings get very hurt, and Maddie is confronted with the idea that maybe science can't solve everything, that maybe it's time to give kindness a chance. Teagan offers a smart, breezy narrative that is both clever and approachable, offering a fresh twist on the familiar topic of middle school angst. Her characters are realistic and funny as they fumble through early adolescence and grapple with the reality of change. Absent markers to the contrary, readers will likely infer that the characters are largely white. Highly enjoyable for aspiring scientists, budding artists, and regular kids. (Fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Review