Out of Place: A Voice-Driven Middle Grade Story About Friendship, Bullying, and Unlikely Friends for Kids (Ages 8-12)

When twelve-year-old Cove Bernstein becomes the target of a school-wide bullying campaign, she sets out to find a way to leave her home on Martha’s Vineyard for New York City, where her best friend lives. But Cove discovers that friends can appear in the unlikeliest places, and maybe home isn’t the worst place to be after all.

Jennifer Blecher’s debut novel is a voice-driven story about bullying, friendship, and self-reliance that hits the sweet spot for fans of Ali Benjamin’s The Thing About Jellyfish and Erin Entrada Kelly’s You Go First.

Twelve-year-old Cove Bernstein’s year has gone from bad to worse. First, her best friend, Nina, moved from Martha’s Vineyard to New York City. Then, without Nina around, Cove became the target of a bullying campaign at school. Escape seems impossible.

But opportunities can appear when you least expect them. Cove’s visit to a secondhand clothing store leads her to a surprising chance to visit Nina, but only if she can win a coveted place in a kids-only design competition. Cove doesn’t know how to sew, but her friend at the retirement home, Anna, has promised to teach her. And things start really looking up when a new kid at school, Jack, begins appearing everywhere Cove goes.

Then Cove makes a big mistake. One that could ruin every good thing that has happened to her this year. One that she doesn’t know how to undo.

Jennifer Blecher’s accessible and beautifully written debut novel explores actions and consequences, loneliness, bullying, and finding your voice. This voice-driven friendship story is for fans of Rebecca Stead’s Goodbye Stranger and Jodi Kendall’s The Unlikely Story of a Pig in the City.  

Includes black-and-white spot art throughout.

Cove feels completely alone on her island home. But what if the path to her best friend—and to finding herself—is through the people she least expects?

• Best Friends, Miles Apart: After her best friend Nina moves from Martha’s Vineyard to New York City, Cove feels stranded and will do anything to see her again.
• Overcoming Mean Girls: Left without her closest ally, Cove becomes the target of a painful bullying campaign and desperately searches for an escape from her middle school tormentors.
• An Unlikely Friendship: To win the design contest that is her only ticket off the island, Cove must learn to sew from Anna, a new friend at the local retirement home with a surprising past.
• Learning to Sew: With help from her new friends, the quirky Jack and the wise Anna, Cove discovers a creative talent she never knew she had—one that might be the key to everything.

Jennifer Blecher is the author of Camp Famous, Stick with Me, and Out of Place. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts, with her husband and their three children, but spends part of every summer on Martha’s Vineyard. www.jenniferblecher.com