Wilson's The Lottie Project

Given this cover, and not the Nick Sharrat one, I thought the book would be about time travel. It wasn't, but since it was still Jacqueline Wilson, I wasn't too disappointed.

Wilson's books that make it to the U.S. (she's a top selling British YA author) tend to be light problem novels, and this one was. The twist: While Lottie is dealing with her single mother's lack of a job, she is also working on a school project about servant girls during the Victorian era. Her mother gets several jobs cleaning houses and looking after a little boy, and these experiments are reflected in the story she writes about the Victorian girl.

Wilson's Candyfloss and The Illustrated Mum have gone over well here, as has her "Girls" series. When looking for Wilson titles to buy, be aware that a lot of her books are aimed at the 8-12 age range, but are given older looking covers in the U.S.

Also of note: Jessica Blank's book, Almost Home, is NOT for middle schools. Although it starts out with delicate wording of sensitive issues, it uses the f-word more times than I could count, and quickly descends in hair-curling descriptions of life on the street.