The Pros of Cons

A drummer, a fanfic writer, and an amateur taxidermist walk into a convention center, and the weekend that unfolds will change all of their lives.

Drummer Phoebe Byrd prides herself on being one of the guys, and she's ready to prove it by kicking all their butts in the snare solo competition at the Indoor Percussion Association Convention. Writer Vanessa Montoya-O'Callaghan has been looking forward to the WTFcon for months. Not just because of the panels and fanfiction readings but because WTFcon is where she'll finally meet Soleil, her internet girlfriend, for the first time. Taxidermy assistant Callie Buchannan might be good at scooping brains out of deer skulls, but that doesn't mean it's her passion. Since her parents' divorce, her taxidermist father only cares about his work, and assisting him at the World Taxidermy and Fish-Carving Championships is the only way Callie knows to connect with him. When a crazy mix-up in the hotel lobby brings the three girls together, they form an unlikely friendship against a chaotic background of cosplay, competition, and carcasses!

Alison Cherry is the author of the young adult novels Red, For Real, and Look Both Ways and the middle-grade novels The Classy Crooks Club and Willows vs. Wolverines. She lives in Brooklyn with her two cats.
Michelle Schusterman is the author of I Heart Band, a Scholastic Reading Club pick, The Kat Sinclair Files, and Olive and the Backstage Ghost. She's also an instructor at Writopia Lab, a nonprofit organization that offers creative-writing workshops for children and teens from all backgrounds. Find out more at michelleschusterman.com.