Jelly

A sympathetic portrayal of adolescent angst with a feel-good resolution. –Kirkus Reviews
An engaging story about body image, family dynamics, and the power of poetry. –School Library Journal

Cotterill depicts Jelly and her friends deftly, and her exploration of Jelly’s feelings is sensitive and convincing and heralds her triumph in the end, demonstrating her newly found self-respect. –Booklist

Twelve-year-old Jelly hides her true self behind her humor and keeps her true thoughts and feelings locked away in a notebook. Can she find the courage to share who she really is?

Angelica (Jelly for short) is the queen of comedy at school. She has a personality as big as she is, and everyone loves her impressions. But Jelly isn’t as confident as she pretends to be. No one knows her deepest thoughts and feelings. She keeps those hidden away in a secret notebook.

Then her mom’s new boyfriend, Lennon, arrives. He’s kind and perceptive, and he is the first person to realize that Jelly is playing a part. Jelly shares her poetry with him and he convinces her to perform one of her poems as a song at the school talent show. Can Jelly risk letting people see the real her? What if it all goes wrong?