Southwest Cougars Eighth Grade Series

Seventh grade was the year Cassandra lost it all: her crush, her social status, and her best friend. This year she's taking it back. Starting with summer camp, where she intends to employ her new queen bee skills and become the most popular girl in the woods. There's just one thorn in her side, and it comes in the shape of her elementary school friend: Riley. Will she shake Riley off for good or find another way to become Queen Bee?

She's climbing the totem pole.   Cassie can hardly believe it when the popular crowd at school notices her. She's been waiting for this moment for two years, and she's not about to let it pass her by. But it seems they don't want her quite the way she is. They want her to change her hair, her clothes, the way she talks, who she talks to. How much is Cassie willing to change just to be accepted?

She's done it now.   Cassandra's in the in-crowd. She's finally popular, finding a spot with her new friends, changing how she looks, and becoming the girl she always wanted to be. Or is she? Slowly Cassie realizes that the popular girls can't seem to tell the truth and spend as much time fighting as being friends. Will Cassie ever fit in here?

It's time to show her hand. Cassie's been playing with fire for months, trying to lose weight so she can be beautiful and thin enough to be popular. But how much is too much? When her dieting starts to affect her health, even Cassie gets scared enough to admit there's a problem. Will she be able to change, or is she stuck on this downward path?

Cassie can't pretend anymore. She's spent the past few months transforming herself to fit in; becoming prettier, more trendy, and skinnier. But when Cassie's dieting behavior becomes obsessive and destructive, even she has to admit it's out of her control. Will her new friends be able to help her? Or will they just make it worse?

Boy crazy. That's the best word to define Cassie's group of friends, but there's always only been one boy on Cassie's mind. So when another starts showering her with attention, Cassie isn't quite sure how to react. Could this be her first boyfriend?