Most Valuable Player

by Ruth McNally Barshaw

Published 28 February 2012
Ellie loves the Journey of the Mind club and struggles to keep from failing miserably on her soccer team, but when both groups have tournaments the same day, she musters her team spirit and tries to succeed at both.



Moving to a new house? Bad. Being the new kid? Worse.

Ellie's family is moving to a new town, and Ellie is sure she won't fit in at school. The other kids play 'new kid bingo' behind her back, and even the teachers can't seem to remember her name. But when her new classmates start complaining about long lunch lines (and bad food), Ellie jumps at the chance to lead a protest. And tackling the school canteen just might be the perfect way to make new friends!



Ellie writes and doodles in a journal of her family's move to a new home and her struggle to make friends, which gets a lot easier as she leads a nonviolent protest about long lunch lines at school.

One girl. One sketchbook. One week with the world's most annoying relatives.

When Ellie McDoogle's parents go out of town, she's forced to go on a camping trip with her aunt, uncle, cousins and baby brother, Ben-Ben. Ellie can handle mosquitos and poison ivy, but sharing a cabin with her crazy relatives? No way! From her aunt's many rules to her cousin Eric's constant teasing, Ellie needs her sketchbook to survive this family vacation!


Ellie McDoodle is excited about starting a school newspaper and serving as editor, so when her friends and family convince her to run for class president--against her new crush, Jake--she is disappointed to have to give up the job temporarily, but is soon caught up in making posters and speeches and getting to know Jake better.

Ellie McDoodle is excited about starting a school newspaper and serving as editor, so when her friends and family convince her to run for class president, against her new crush, Jake, she is disappointed to have to give up the job temporarily.