BAD CHEERLEADER

Narrator Jesse Vilinsky creates a passionate voice for 12-year-old Margaret--called Bag--who is trying to fit in at her new school in Rhode Island even though she longs for her old life in New York City before her dad left them. When her mom, an aspiring actor, gets a role at a local theater and can't pick her up immediately after school, she ends up getting stuck at her sister Minvera's cheerleading practice rather than her safe haven, the public library. Vilinsky captures Bag's emotions as she deals with Minvera's animosity toward her. Fans of realistic fiction will cheer Bag on as she works to piece her family back together and find a new way forward. [Published: JANUARY 2026]