About The Story
Belonging should never require becoming someone else.
An Invitation Series story about friendship, acceptance, Down syndrome, and the desire to belong.
Marlena is a middle-school student with Down syndrome who wants what so many young people want—to feel accepted and included by her peers.
When an elite group of girls seems to offer the belonging she longs for, Marlena must decide just how far she is willing to go to earn an invitation—and what that pursuit may cost the friendships she already has.
By Invitation Only explores the complicated pressures surrounding popularity, acceptance, friendship, and self-worth while giving middle-grade readers an opportunity to consider what genuine belonging really means.
What Readers Will Explore
Real belonging does not ask us to trade away who we are.
The Invitation Series explores the friendships, pressures, choices, and challenges of growing up while disability remains a natural part of the lives of its characters.
The Invitation Series
Stories about belonging, friendship, and finding your place.
Continue the series with middle-grade stories about friendship, disability, difficult choices, changing relationships, and growing into who you are.
Explore The Invitation Series