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, 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 Booklist Best Book of the Year • A Bookshop.org Best Book of the Year • An American Booksellers Association Indie Next Selection • A Staff Pick at Parnussas Books, Bookmarks, Belmont Books, Broadway Books, and Many More
A Georgia Children’s Book Award Finalist

★★★THE REVIEWS ARE IN!★★★

Bye Forever, I Guess makes an excellent case for wanting more for ourselves in all areas of our lives, and for insisting on being seen, even if it’s awkward or scary at first. Meadows’ middle grade debut is a well-written, winning coming-of-age tale with loads of hilarity, empathy and heart.
—BookPage (starred review)

Meadows presents an earnest and laugh-out-loud middle grade debut that’s both a winning exploration of tween friendship and a pitch-perfect paean to fan culture and the thrill of finding one’s community.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A hilarious enemies-to-something-more tale, told equally in prose and text messages, this book is sure to please any middle schooler in need of a sweet romance. Hand to fans of Cory Doctorow’s In Real Life (2014) and Alexis Nedd’s Don’t Hate the Player (2021).
—Booklist (starred review)

A must for young rom-com fans.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Charming, funny, and endearing.
—Kirkus Reviews