INGRID’S ONLINE PERSONA IS COOLER THAN SHE IS. CAN THIS GUARDED GAMER GIRL LOWER HER SHIELD FOR A NEW FRIEND … OR MORE-THAN-FRIEND?

Thirteen-year-old Ingrid’s been living a double life. At school, she’s the Girl With Dead Parents, her popular friend Rachel’s charity case. Online, things are different: she crushes it in her favorite MMORPG, geeks out in her favorite fantasy series fandom, and runs a popular social media account. If only real life were that easy.

But when Ingrid finally stands up to Rachel and “starts drama,” it suddenly feels like she has no life at all … and nowhere to sit at lunch.

Until she gets a supersweet wrong-number text from a mystery boy at her school, and everything starts to go right. Spending time together playing Ancient Tomes Online as “Stitches” and “Traveler” makes her feel like she’s really connecting with someone. But when she begins to suspect that Traveler may be a popular classmate who is WAY above her in the cool-kid food chain—and whose original text was actually intended for Rachel—she faces a difficult choice. Can they be friends IRL? She wants to open up, but getting close to people has hurt her before.

Is making real friends only fantasy after all?

Bye Forever, I Guess is the fresh, funny, and deeply sweet middle-grade debut of New York Times bestselling author Jodi Meadows. Speaking to the messiness of middle-school friendships (and first loves), this is a warm, witty, enormously entertaining book—and a love letter to geek culture, gaming, and the healing power of fantasy.

"The most delightful middle-grade romcom I've ever read! Sweet and funny and utterly adorable!"—ELLEN OH, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF FINDING JUNIE KIM