Leah Stecher – författare

"Magical and heartbreaking! You will read this book in one gulp." - Jennifer L. Holm, New York Times-bestselling author of The Fourteenth GoldfishWhen You Reach Me meets Starfish in this heartfelt contemporary middle grade about a misfit girl who finds a way to skip all of the hard parts of life.J.P. Green has always felt out of step. She doesn''t wear the right clothes, she doesn''t say the right things, and her body…well, she''d rather not talk about it. And seventh grade is shaping up to be the worst year yet. So when J.P. discovers a mysterious door in her neighbor''s treehouse, she doesn''t hesitate before walking through. The door sends her three days forward in time. Suddenly, J.P. can skip all the worst parts of seventh grade: Fitness tests in P.E., oral book reports, awkward conversations with her mom…she can avoid them all and no one even knows she was gone.But can you live a life without any of the bad parts? Are there experiences out there that you can''t miss?This moving middle grade novel about mental health, body acceptance, and self-confidence asks what it truly means to show up for the people you love-and for yourself.A 2025 ALA Notable Title

In this heartfelt follow-up to her critically acclaimed novel The Things We Miss, Leah Stecher explores the pressure of living up to perfection.When Evie Steinberg''s family moves right before seventh grade, she promises her dad that she''ll make sure everything goes perfectly. Maybe if she keeps her promise, he''ll finally forgive her for accidentally ruining the biggest moment of his cryptozoology career last spring. Perfect means taking care of her little sister, fitting in at her new school, and never complaining or causing problems. Perfect definitely doesn''t mean being bullied by a girl who''s turning the whole school against her and failing math class. Evie needs to fix her life before anyone finds out she''s struggling. When she uses her cryptozoologist skills to figure out the real reason her bully decided to target her, Evie realizes that she holds the key to fixing everything. She just needs proof. But how far is Evie willing to go to reveal the truth? This tender and imaginative middle grade novel combines a fast-paced plot and reluctant reader appeal with explorations of perfectionism, people-pleasing, and bullying.