“Captain Superlative!” is not the main character in this middle grade novel by J. S. Puller. She is, however, the inspiration and cause for the change Janey, a quiet, shy, and practically invisible middle school student, experiences over the course of this beautifully written and moving novel.

Janey’s mother died when she was nine, and since then she’s pretty much existed by drifting through school and not getting noticed. She narrates that she is “as unimportant as air. And equally invisible.” Someone who is not invisible at school is Dagmar, the soccer champion who plays so hard she wears the bruises to prove it. Dagmar is not only an expert at playing soccer, she’s truly an expert at being cruel. Her favorite target is Paige, who is as short and dark as Dagmar is tall and blonde. The interactions that Janey witnesses and narrates are terrible.

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