THE INSTA-DAUGHTER STARTED MIDDLE SCHOOL THIS WEEK, and her grandmother gave her a copy of A Smart Girl’s Guide to Starting Middle School: Everything You Need to Know About Juggling More Homework, More Teachers, and More Friends, which comes from the “American Girl” people. Unlike most of their products, it’s reasonably priced. . . .

I looked through it and it’s good. (Hey, my mom’s a children’s librarian, so it should be). I wish they’d had books like this for boys when I was that age.