Callie is a seventh-grade grader in New York who spends a week cutting school, visiting museums and uncovering family secrets about the death of her gay uncle.
She's the main character in "Apartment 1986," a new young adult novel by Northampton, Massachusetts, writer Lisa Papademtriou.
To kick off this year's back-to-school book series, we sat down with Papademtriou. She started by reading from the book's first section, when we meet the exuberant narrator.