The Mirror in the Woods

By Jodie Keeling

Seventh grade is hard. You count on having your friends around you to share your experiences. But what if that doesn’t happen?

This is what Kelly faces in author Jodie Keeling’s book, The Mirror in the Woods. She looked forward to seventh grade with her best friend, Lily, by her side. But then she loses Lily to makeup, cheerleading, boys, and even new friends. All things Kelly isn’t really interested in. Then what starts out as a normal, boring day at school ends in a four-wheeler wreck in front of a mirror in the woods. All it takes is one mixed-up reflection to learn that, sometimes, what is on the other side of the glass might not be what we expect to see.

Kelly could be someone you know—even you. Things are going great, and then everything seems upside down. Friendships you thought were forever are torn apart. Maybe you, like Kelly, also have issues with being a middle child. You’ll find The Mirror in the Woods a fun and inspiring read.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Oct 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9781480866300

Jodie Keeling

Jodie Keeling is a national board certified special education teacher. She has twenty-two years of experience working with young adults and has two children of her own.

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Copyright © 2018 Jodie Keeling.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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ISBN: 978-1-4808-6631-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-6630-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018909232

Archway Publishing rev. date: 08/20/2018

Contents

Chapter 1 Mirror, Mirror

Chapter 2 Who Would You Be?

Chapter 3 Life As Lily

Chapter 4 Absent

Chapter 5 Lily’s Day

CHAPTER 1

Mirror, Mirror

I t’s a regular Monday in April in room 102, Ms. Bethany’s seventh-grade science class. Ms. Bethany’s black hair is tucked neatly into a tight bun on the back of her head. She wears red glasses that contrast with her pale skin, and her pointed nose makes me want to stare at her because she’s pretty in an odd sort of way. In her classroom, everything has a place, and the students are expected to be in their assigned seats when the bell rings.

Snapping out of my daydream, I hear Lily Parker and her crew running toward class. The click-clack of heels and their high-pitched giggles echo through the hall. Lily was my best friend until we started seventh grade, when apparently some alien took control of her. That alien has a name. Mom calls it puberty.

Lily’s naturally blonde hair falls into curls halfway down her back. Until this year, she always wore a ponytail like me, and everyone thought we were sisters. Not anymore. In fact, it seems like overnight she grew out of her sports bra and T-shirts and into tight sweaters and short skirts. Mom tells me not to worry, because my time will come, but I’m not sure that I want to change—not if it changes me like that. I am quite happy in shorts and T-shirts, and makeup is just not for me.

Lily and I don’t talk much anymore. Ever since she made cheerleader, she’s had all new friends and no time for me. For as long as I can remember, Lily has had everything she’s ever wanted, and she shared it all with me. Until this year.

Here I am! Don’t count me tardy, Lily yells just as the bell rings. She grabs the corner of the wall to slow herself down and then bounces perfectly into her seat. Everyone turns their head in time to see her new friends awkwardly stumble in behind her. I prefer to call them her mini-mes. I am pretty sure that between them all,