Grade 5-8–This series revolves around high school student Mary Jane, back in the days when she first meets Spider-Man and is harboring a crush on him. The setting is the present day, or at least the pretty-recent day, since characters are watching Shrek on TV at one point. Spider-Man himself doesn't actually appear in either of these volumes, except in a picture of him on the side of a bus shelter that Mary Jane looks at longingly while she's on a date with another boy. Instead, he is the elephant (well, maybe the spider) in the room…the empty seat at the table…the presence that is always felt even when he's not there. This series is not directed at fans of Spider-Man or other superheroes. Instead, it's geared more toward the younger sisters of comic-book fans.
