Rebecca Stead has this way of making you feel like you are teetering on the brink of a very steep, very craggy precipice with mere everyday situations. I shouldn't feel physically tense reading about the friendship drama bunch of middle schoolers, but I TOTALLY do when I read her books and I love it. 
 Bridge, Em, and Tab have been BFFs for years and they have one rule--no fighting. When they get to seventh grade, they each have to join a club. They each find a different club, so what's a set of friends to do? Tab's a budding activist, Em's on the soccer team (and has a boy who keeps bugging her for a revealing selfie), and Bridge joins the tech crew. Tech crew is where she meets Sherm and he immediately understands her--far more than any of her girl friends seem to at the moment. But does she like like him? What if she just likes him for now--is that enough? (view spoiler)[Spoiler alert: It is enough and I loved everything about their relationship. (hide spoiler)] Divorce, love, and friendship are thoroughly explored in this novel. Less compelling is the mystery high schooler, who the reader follows through sluffing school on Valentine's Day. The character (whose identity is not particularly tricky to discern) is worthwhile, but her friendships don't seem as urgent or deep as the connection between the trio. The rest of the supporting characters are positively wonderful, though. I'd read a book about each and every one of them. The book raises and answers questions about feminism in an effortless and worthwhile way. Full disclosure: I didn't agree with all of the answers, but I adore that Stead wrote about some tough and relevant issues in a book meant for tweens. 
 I'll be thinking about Goodbye Stranger for a long time. 
 {4.5 stars}