A humorous take on cliques, exclusion, and real friends.

Clique: It's a word that's spelled funny and sounds funny, and (like a vampire) can be a pain in the neck. People in cliques run together, making them seem more intimidating, cooler, and popular. PSSST! But we know that's not the case.

The best defense, though, against cliques is forming a good friend squad that lets other friendly and respectful kids in. True friends don't make others feel left out, but for many kids, navigating social groups is tricky (because it's cliquey), and they end up feeling excluded.

This book uses humor, fun cartoons, and kid-friendly language to explain what cliques are, why being phony is baloney, why true friends don't exclude others online or in real life, what's more important than popularity, and how to navigate it all.

But that's not it. Kids will laugh out loud at the following:

• Clique myth busters
• Weird things about cliques
• And do's and don'ts to obtain true friends

Now translated into Spanish, this book addresses online socializing and social media for the modern, tech-savvy kids glued to their devices. The back of the book includes even more resources for kids and teens to survive cliques and advice on making friends.

The Free Spirit Laugh & Learn(R) Series
Realistic topics, practical advice, silly jokes, fun illustrations, and a kid-centric point of view all add up to one of the most popular series young people turn to for help with school, families, siblings, and more. Kids ages 8 to 13 can tote these pocket-size guides anywhere and learn to slash stress, give cliques and rude people the boot, get organized, behave becomingly, and, in general, hugely boost their coping skills.