Free Spirit News

Real Friends vs. the Other Kind

Together with Electric Eggplant, we’re pleased to announce the release of our new iPad app, Middle School Confidential 2: Real Friends vs. the Other Kind. This book app continues the story of Jack, Jen, Chris, Abby, Mateo, and Michelle and shows how they deal with relationship issues such as making friends, resolving disputes, dating, and gossip. Featuring new, interactive quizzes that test what a real friend would do, this iPad app will challenge "tweens" and teens to think about their friendships in new ways. 

Read more about Real Friends vs. the Other Kind and view a video preview of the iPad app.

Featured Title

I Like Being Me

I Like Being Me: Poems for Children About Feeling Special, Appreciating Others, and Getting Along is a delightful collection of 26 rhyming poems for teaching social skills. This is a perfect book for reading aloud in class. The themes—being kind, solving problems, learning from mistakes, telling the truth, dealing with feelings, making decisions, being a friend, and more—are clear, understandable, and relevant to the everyday lives of young children.

Read more about teaching kids social skills with rhyming poems.

Reviews & Accolades

“Simple words and detailed illustrations invite kids to notice, accept, and affirm diversity.”—Skipping Stones 

“This book provides gentle, straightforward, and realistic advice to teens who find that their giftedness is not always simple. The tone indicates quite clearly that the authors have a deep understanding of gifted minds and gifted children. Gifted young people everywhere should have access to this book, and the adults who work with them will gain a better understanding of them from it.”—School Library Journal

Do you have a favorite Free Spirit book? Tell us why! Email us at help4kids@freespirit.com.

Author Spotlight

Dr. Thomas Greenspon

Thomas S. Greenspon, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and a licensed marriage and family therapist in private practice in Minneapolis. He earned a B.A. from Yale and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Illinois. Tom is the recipient of the Minnesota Council for the Gifted and Talented Award for Distinguished Service to Gifted Individuals. He lectures and writes on a variety of topics, including family relationships, and the emotional needs of gifted children and adults.

Moving Past Perfect, an updated version of Tom’s award-winning book on perfectionism, will be released in March.

View all books by Thomas Greenspon.

Advisory Board Members Wanted

Free Spirit seeks grades preK–12 teachers, administrators, librarians, counselors, and social workers to join its advisory board. In order to make our books and other products even more beneficial for children and teens, the advisory board will provide valuable feedback on things like content, text, and art and help us identify what educators need to support the kids they serve.

Free Spirit also seeks young people, grades 6 and up, to join its teen advisory council. In order to keep our books and other products current and relevant, the advisory council provides valuable feedback on such things as the design, art, and content of our resources for young people.