Five youngsters (6th graders) are quirky, bright, funny kids who live in the not-affluent neighborhood in the small town of Garfield, Ohio. Tulie O'Brien, the main character, is highly imaginative, the leader of this little group that includes an African-American girl (Brenda), an Asian girl (Winsome) and a boy (Freddie) who will probably grow up to be gay.  They are not the most popular kids in a class ruled by Katherine Bannister, the daughter of the town's richest family. Tulie lives with her hard-working mother and her eccentric grandmother who introduces paper dolls to the youngsters.  They become intrigued with the creative possibilities pf this old fashioned low-tech past time and form a paper doll club.The storyline follows Tulie's realization that her own home-made paper dolls are more valuable to her than the enviable and expensive "fashion dolls" belonging to Katherine. Tulie and Katherine, enemies when the story begins, become friends.  It is a humorous and sentimental story of friendship and positive multi-generational relationships.Tulip O'Brien's Cut-Out Club is a novel and paper doll set in one volume, for middle readers.  The main young characters are integral to the storyline in which paper dolls play a key part. The paper dolls are to be cut from the front and back covers. Inside are nine black-and-white pages of clothes to be colored by the readers (printed on one side only to allow cutting-out).