Laurie Morrison – författare

A clever, funny multimedia mystery from author Laurie Morrison, about soccer teammates trying to solve the disappearance of their beloved team captain—and facing a few secrets of their own.Why did Ella leave?Eighth Graders Sadie and Pug don’t have anything in common except for their love of soccer and their loyalty to Ella, the overachieving team captain. So when Ella doesn’t show up for the most important game of the season and her parents pull her out of school, Sadie and Pug are determined to find out what happened, even though they don’t usually get along. There’s no way Ella abandoned the team!But as Sadie and Pug dig deeper, they begin to realize that Ella’s life wasn’t as perfect as it seemed. And maybe Sadie and Pug have a few secrets that need to come to light, too. Maybe all their classmates doTold in recordings, letters, texts, journal entries, and emails, Where Ella Went is a funny and absorbing slice-of-life mystery about friendship, teamwork, and the pressures of being in middle school. If Sadie and Pug keep searching for answers, they risk sabotaging the end of their soccer season.But can they ever move on if they don’t learn the truth? And what if Ella needs them even more than they need her?

Dive into the paperback of this middle-grade novel about competitive swimming, changing friendships, and finding your placeThirteen-year-old Annabelle struggles in school, no matter how hard shetries. But as soon as she dives into the pool, she’s unstoppable. She’sthe fastest girl on the middle school swim team, and when she’s asked to join the high school team over the summer, everything changes. Suddenly, she’s got new friends, and a high school boy starts treating her like she’s somebody special—and Annabelle thinks she’ll finally stand out in a good way. She’ll do anything to fit in and help the team make it to the Labor Day Invitational, even if it means blowing off her old friends. But after a prank goes wrong, Annabelle is abandoned by theolder boy and can’t swim. Who is she without the one thing she’s good at? Heartwarming and relatable, Up for Air is a story about where we find our self-worth.

Laurie Morrison’s Keeping Pace is a poignant middle-grade novel about friends-turned-rivals training for a half-marathon—and rethinking what it means to win and what they mean to each other.Grace has been working for years to beat her former friend Jonah Perkins’s GPA so she can be named top scholar of the eighth grade. But when Jonah beats her for the title, it feels like none of Grace’s academic accomplishments have really mattered.They weren’t enough to win—or to impress her dad. And then the wide, empty summer looms. With nothing planned and no more goals or checklists, she doesn’t know what she’s supposed to be working toward.Eager for something to occupy her days, Grace signs up for a half-marathon race that she and Jonah used to talk about running together. Jonah’s running it, too. Maybe if she can beat Jonah on race day, she’ll feel OK again. But as she begins training with Jonah and checking off a new list of summer goals, she starts to question what—and who—really matters to her. Is winning at all costs really worth it? Perfect for readers who enjoy realistic contemporary fiction, stories about sports and personal growth, and books that tackle the pressures facing today's middle school students, Keeping Pace is a moving story about friendship, ambition, and finding confidence beyond winning.

In this beautifully constructed middle-grade novel, told half in prose and half in verse, Lauren prides herself on being a good sister, and Sierra is used to taking care of her mom. When Lauren’s parents send her brother to a therapeutic boarding school for teens on the autism spectrum and Sierra moves to a foster home in Lauren’s wealthy neighborhood, both girls are lost until they find a deep bond with each other. But when Lauren recruits Sierra to help with a Robin Hood scheme to raise money for autistic kids who don’t have her family’s resources, Sierra has a lot to lose if the plan goes wrong. Lauren must learn that having good intentions isn’t all that matters when you battle injustice, and Sierra needs to realize that sometimes, the person you need to take care of is yourself.

Thirteen-year-old Annabelle struggles in school, no matter how hard she tries. But as soon as she dives into the pool, she’s unstoppable. She’s the fastest girl on the middle school swim team, and when she’s asked to join the high school team over the summer, everything changes. Suddenly, she’s got new friends, and a high school boy starts treating her like she’s somebody special—and Annabelle thinks she’ll finally stand out in a good way. She’ll do anything to fit in and help the team make it to the Labor Day Invitational, even if it means blowing off her old friends. But after a prank goes wrong, Annabelle is abandoned by the older boy and can’t swim. Who is she without the one thing she’s good at? Heartwarming and relatable, Up for Air is a story about where we find our self-worth.