Middle school is the time you transition. It’s the time when you may have to leave bad influences (even friends) in the rearview mirror. After all, what good can it do you? All they’ll do is drag you down. Kids wandering in the street? Not a good influence. This is most people’s train of thought. But—what if you didn’t know what’s happening behind the scenes? If you knew their pain-would it change the way you saw them? J. E Stamper shows us how people are more than what you see. She describes how raw you can feel when there’s no one to turn to. Everyone has an ugly side, and when life keeps throwing her deepest fears in her face, she has to keep her “Ugly Me” inside. Ugly Me is a tale of seventh grader Randi Lewis–living a secret life. A damaged girl who wants to turn a new leaf. This will be the year she lets all her anger go. Mean looks, assumptions, gossips-from children and adults..none of it matters. Everyone wants to be normal. But when adults assume, kids judge, Ugly Me is dying to come out. Reading Ugly Me is a necessity for adults and children who struggle to understand the pain of children born to drug addicts. Written through the eyes of traumatized children who push everyone away, Ugly Me is a must-read