The Littlest Bigfoot: The Littlest Bigfoot, Book 1

In her first children's book, Jennifer Weiner sensitively explores the painfully self-conscious tween years through the eyes of three children who feel friendless and unwelcome in their own families. The Littlest Bigfoot shines brightest when Weiner describes her characters' acute loneliness and misery and the inner strengths they've cultivated to cope. But the plot revs up slowly -- the girls don't meet until the halfway point, and Jeremy's story is shoehorned in to prop up a storyline.

This is more a friendship tale than a fantasy, as the Yare aren't much unlike humans -- and that's the point. The core of the story is its strong message about respecting people who seem different and appreciating that they have strengths and struggles unseen by you. The rousing themes of self-worth and appreciating differences are slightly undermined by the smirking portrayal of adults at the experimental school, who are the only adults to embrace Alice and Mille with unquestioning support.