I am in the middle school does not have to suck camp. Yes, it is challenging socially and emotionally for most kids but it is also a great opportunity to mature and gain self-confidence and independence. I have two 7th graders and have witnessed their development over the last 1 1/2 years. Yes, fashion and crushes are major topics for many 6th grade girls (including DD12) but I would be shocked to hear that none of them have any other interests/hobbies/conversations. They can't all be two dimensional caricatures in a typical middle school. DD12 has her GT friends, magnet friends, artsy friends, music friends, and fashion friends as well as some "specific class only" friends although there are a lot of overlap among the groups and her closest buddies belong to multiple groups. In a way, the multiple classroom nature and group project opportunites of middle school make it much easier to make friends: If you struck out in math and social studies, there is always language arts, science and electives and clubs. If your DD is conscious that her behavior annoys the other girls, then she is in a good position to modify her behavior, assuming that she wants to make friends with any of these girls. Since your DD has a sister who appears to be more socially savvy, perhaps you can enlist her help to point your DD to some girls who may be wiling to befriend her. Although DS12 haven't had any social difficulties thus far, he is not always tactful and sometimes behave in an obnoxious way; he is lucky that his groups of friends put up with him but DD12 often calls him on it (she isn't usually a witness but privy to the grapevines) and I think that has helped his social skills.
