The Kid Table

Book excerpt: Ingrid Bell and her five teenage cousins are such a close-knit group that they don't really mind sitting at the kid table-even if they have to share it with a four-year-old. But then Brianne, the oldest cousin, lands a seat at the adult table and leaves her cousins shocked and confused. What does it take to graduate from the kid table? Over the course of five family events, Ingrid chronicles the coming-of-age of her generation. Her cousins each grapple with growing pains, but it is Ingrid who truly struggles as she considers what it means to grow up. When first love comes in the form of first betrayal (he's Brianne's boyfriend), Ingrid is forced to question her own personality and how she fits into her family. The cousins each take their own path toward graduating into adulthood-only to realize that maybe the kid table was where they wanted to be all along. Almost a reverse coming-of-age, this touching and hilariously funny novel will appeal to any reader who has sat at the kid table . . . or is still sitting there!