Oh, I’ve been a laggardly blogger this week, re-outlining the entire second half of my work-in-progress, arranging school visits and preparing to head to a wedding (congratulations, Johanna and Andrea!)  But I am thrilled to report that Nice and Mean is New Moon Girls Magazine’s October book pick! (That link gets you to a page with more details.)

New Moon Girls is a v cool, ad-free web magazine that actually addresses the concerns of girls 8-14.  (Can you see how cool it is from the image?  Hope so.)  It doesn’t try to give you diet tips or fashion tips or sugarcoat the realities of life with cheezy suggestions, and a lot of the articles are written by the readers.  If you know any girls in this age group who could use a  friendly and realistic ear, I suggest you send them over there toute de suite (that means “right away.”)

As part of Nice and Mean on New Moon Girls…

* I will be participating in a live chat with readers on Wednesday, October 27th, 8-9 PM EST.  Send your girls my way!  I am a super-fast typer (this always freaked out my students) and predict that I will be able to answer an astounding number of questions simultaneously.

* You can win a free copy of Nice and Mean by creating a one-minute video about popularity, which is also the theme of this month’s magazine.  It can be interviews with your friends–you sounding off–clips from other movies and TV shows–whatever!  I’m not the judge, but I can’t wait to see what wins, and I hope to be able to post it here!

* Speaking of popularity, you can also head over to the New Moon site to chat or rage about the subject.  (When I was in seventh grade, boy, would I have had some choice words for people who were obsessed with popularity.)

* And speaking of that pesky subject once again, you can vote in my poll on the left to share your thoughts about popularity.  (Riddle me this, readers: I know how many of you come by each month, how many are new and how many are returning.  Why do only a fraction of you vote in the polls?  Do you not see it over there?  Are you rationing your clicks?  Most puzzling.)

Hoping to have less self-promotion-y things to share next week, but until then, you can enjoy the fun and thought-provoking postings at New Moon!