About the Author
Maggie Horne is a writer and editor who grew up near Toronto, Canada. She studied at Oxford Brookes University, where she obtained both a BA in Publishing Media and a wife, which was a pretty good deal. She now lives outside of Ottawa with her family. Her writing has been featured in Catapult and on Medium’s Mental Health and LGBTQ pages. Hazel Hill Is Gonna Win This One is her first novel. Website: maggiehorne.com Twitter: @MaggieHasHorne
Product Description
A funny, feminist, and queer contemporary middle grade debut about 12-year-old loner Hazel Hill, who after one of her classmates is harassed online, devises a plan to catch the school's golden boy in the act.
Seventh grader Hazel Hill is too busy for friends. No, really. She needs to focus on winning the school-wide speech competition and beating her nemesis, the popular and smart Ella Quinn, after last year’s embarrassing hyperbole/hyperbowl mishap that cost her first place.
But when Hazel discovers Ella is being harassed by golden boy Tyler Harris, she has to choose between winning and doing the right thing. No one would believe that a nice boy like Tyler would harass and intimidate a nice girl like Ella, but Hazel knows the truth—and she’s determined to prove it, even if it means risking everything.
Deeply relatable and surprisingly humorous, Hazel Hill Is Gonna Win This One is a wonderfully empowering story about friendship, finding your voice, and standing up for what you believe in.
From School Library Journal
Gr 5–8—What would you do if you were being sexually harassed online in seventh grade? What would you do if adults didn't believe you, or even blamed you for it? Well, Hazel Hill is going to take matters into her own hands and is determined to not let Tyler get away with his disgusting behavior. Tyler used to talk at Hazel all the time about girls he liked—but when he tells Hazel that her archnemesis Ella Quinn has a crush on her, she realizes how manipulative he can be. Hazel decides to talk to Ella about it (which kind of freaks Hazel out, as she hasn't told anyone she's gay yet), and Ella confides that Tyler has been sexually harassing her online. When they band together with Ella's best friend Riley, they quickly discover that the odds are against them—not only are they not believed by adults, but Ella is victim-blamed for the messages, most of the other girls he's harassing don't want to come forward, and Hazel keeps getting detention. Finally, in the biggest mic drop possible, the girls receive the start of what could be justice. Horne does a wonderful job of keeping the characters true to age while dealing with the realities of online sexual harassment. VERDICT This topical novel is a must-read for tweens and their parents; a recommended first purchase for middle school collections.—Kerri L. Williams
Review
"Via Hazel’s funny, self-aware voice and a fully rendered secondary cast, Horne’s debut realistically limns the seventh graders’ plight [...] alongside Hazel’s organic arc toward friendship and empowerment." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"The serious subject matter this novel covers is mediated well through Hazel’s wry narration: She is funny, smart, and well adjusted even if she hasn’t managed to make friends in middle school. The portrayal of the girls’ concerns is also remarkably realistic, from their own reactions and considerations about when to speak up or remain silent to the varied and sometimes-disappointing responses of their parents and teachers." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Horne does a wonderful job of keeping the characters true to age while dealing with the realities of online sexual harassment [...] This topical novel is a must-read for tweens and their parents; a recommended first purchase for middle school collections." — School Library Journal (starred review)
“Not only is Horne’s debut novel hilarious and queer and the book I wish I had in middle school, it also made me self-righteously angry i
