ELLIE ENGLE SAVES HERSELF
Ellie Engle doesn’t stand out. Not at home, where she’s alone with her pet fish since her dad moved away and her mom has to work around the clock. Not at the bakery, where she helps out old Mr. Walker on the weekends. And definitely not at school, where her best friend, Abby—the coolest, boldest, most talented girl in the world—drags Ellie along on her never-ending quest to “make her mark.” To someone else, a life in the shadows might seem boring, or lonely. But not to Ellie. As long as she has Abby by her side and a comic book in her hand, she’s quite content.
Too bad life didn’t bother checking in with Ellie. Because when a freak earthquake hits her small town, Ellie wakes up with the power to bring anything back to life with just her touch. And when a video of her using her powers suddenly goes viral, Ellie’s life goes somewhere she never imagined—or wanted: straight into the spotlight.
Surviving middle school is hard enough. Surviving middle school when paparazzi are camped out on your front lawn and an international pop star wants you to use your powers on live TV and you might be in love with your best friend but she doesn’t know it?
Absolutely impossible.
"A sheer delight from beginning to end! Ellie Engle is the epitome of main character energy through and through and I am here for it. Excuse me while I not so patiently wait for the next book!"
—Julie Murphy, New York Times best-selling author of Dumplin’ and Dear Sweet Pea
“Leah Johnson’s superpower is showing young readers who feel invisible that they are seen. With a funny, authentic voice, Ellie Engle Saves Herself is a mirror and window that belongs on middle-grade shelves everywhere.”
—Kacen Callender, National Book Award, Lambda Literary Award, and Coretta Scott King Author Honor-winning author of King and the Dragonflies
PRAISE FOR ELLIE ENGLE
2024 ALA Rainbow List Top Ten
Finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in LGBTQ+ Middle Grade
A Bank Street Center for Children’s Literature 2024 Best Book of the Year
Shortlisted for the Barnes & Noble Children’s and YA Book Award
Kirkus Best Middle Grade Books of 2023
Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best Books 2023
"This book is for the hero inside all of us. It's a funny, heartfelt reminder that we are all worthy of standing in the sun, rather than hiding in the shadows. Readers will feel seen, loved, and cherished after spending time with Ellie Engle."
—Erin Entrada Kelly, Newbery Medal Winner for Hello, Universe, and Newbery Honor Winner for We Dream
"Superpowers, queer crushes, a Black girl stepping into herself and her power, what it means to feel seen: Leah Johnson's middle grade debut does it all, and more. If I was still a school librarian I'd be shoving this in all of my students' hands.”
—Kyle Lukoff, winner of the Newbery Honor Award and the Stonewall Award for Too Bright to See
"Ellie Engle is a force, soaring off the page to remind us that sometimes the person who needs rescuing the most is staring back at us in the mirror."
—Kwame Mbalia, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Tristan Strong series