Can a guarded gamer girl lower her shield for a new friend… or more-than-friend?

"EARNEST AND LAUGH-OUT-LOUD... PITCH PERFECT."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Thirteen-year-old Ingrid’s been living a double life. At school, she’s her popular friend Rachel’s charity case. Online, things are different: she crushes it in her favorite MMORPG, geeks out in her favorite fantasy fandom, and runs a popular social media account. If only real life were that easy.

But when Ingrid finally stands up to Rachel, it suddenly feels like she has no life at all.

Until she gets a super-sweet wrong-number text from a mystery boy at her school. Spending time together gaming as “Stitches” and “Traveler” makes her feel like she’s really connecting with someone. But when she begins to suspect that Traveler may be a popular classmate who is WAY above her in the cool-kid food chain—and whose original text was actually intended for Rachel—she faces a difficult choice. Can they be friends IRL? She wants to open up, but getting close to people has hurt her before. Is making real friends only fantasy after all?

Bye Forever, I Guess is the fresh, funny, and deeply sweet middle-grade debut of New York Times bestselling author Jodi Meadows (MY LADY JANE). Speaking to the messiness of middle-school friendships (and first loves), this is a warm, witty, enormously entertaining book—and a love letter to geek culture, gaming, and the healing power of fantasy.

"HILARIOUS... Charming, funny, and endearing."—Kirkus Reviews

"The most DELIGHTFUL middle-grade romcom I've ever read!"—Ellen Oh, award-winning author of Finding Junie Kim

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year • A Bookshop.org Best Children's Book of the Year • An American Booksellers Association Indie Next Selection