Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone

Author Tae Keller

Grades 6-8 Ages 8-12

In her first novel since winning the Newbery Medal for When You Trap a Tiger, Tae Keller offers a gripping and emotional story about friendship, bullying, and the possiblity that there's more in the universe than just us.

Sometimes middle school can make you feel like you're totally alone in the universe . . . but what if we aren't alone at all?

Thanks to her best friend, Reagan, Mallory Moss knows the rules of middle school. The most important one? You have to fit in to survive. But then Jennifer Chan moves in across the street, and that rule doesn’t seem to apply. Jennifer doesn’t care about the laws of middle school, or the laws of the universe. She believes in aliens—and she thinks she can find them.

Then Jennifer goes missing. Using clues from Jennifer’s journals, Mallory goes searching. But the closer she gets to answers, the more Mallory has to confront why Jennifer might have run . . . and face the truth within herself.

Tae Keller lights up the sky with this insightful story about shifting friendships, right and wrong, and the power we all hold to influence and change one another. No one is ever truly alone.

Available Formats

Trade Paperback 9780593310557
Hardcover 9780593310526
eBook 9780593310540
Unabridged Audiobook Download 9780593559987

State Awards

DC

2023, Capitol Choices, Selection

Kansas

2025, William Allen White Children’s Book Award, Selection

Massachusetts

2024-2025, MASL Readers’ Award, Nominee

New Jersey

2025, Garden State Children’s Book Award, Nominee

New York

2023, NYPL Vibrant Voices: New Books From Authors of Color, Selection

Texas

2023, Texas Lone Star Reading List, Selection

Washington

2023, Washington State Book Award, Winner

Random House Children's Books Teachers and Librarians