An agreement has been reached in principle to settle a defamation lawsuit over a novel written by a Highland Park Middle School eighth grader, which depicted underage children engaged in illegal activities involving drugs and sex. The novel had also mentioned about 30 students at the school, along with parents and teachers, by their actual names.

The original lawsuit was filed in September 2011 by the mother of a girl — allegedly a main character in the story — against the author’s parents, who are divorced. The novelist’s father was dismissed from the lawsuit in April. The current settlement is between the mother of the girl who was written about in the novel and the author’s mother.

“The parties have come to an agreement in principle to settle the case and seek court approval of same,” according to court documents filed on Oct. 19. The details of the settlement have not been disclosed.

The plaintiff’s daughter, who is schoolmates with the author, was reportedly portrayed in the book in “unfathomable, graphic scenes ranging from immoral and demeaning to shocking and illegal,” according to court documents.

A second defamation lawsuit was filed in January by the family of another student who was allegedly depicted in the book as being “sexually promiscuous” and having “violent tendencies,” according to court documents. In June, the family who filed the second lawsuit settled for an undisclosed amount, putting an end to that case.

Before the settlements were reached, the lawsuits were slated to have a jury trial, which would have begun on Oct. 30.

The novel, Nobody’s Perfect, was 362 pages and originally published and sold through the website LuLu.com. The book is no longer available.

Click here to find out background information about the lawsuit. BubbleLife will continue to monitor the situation as it develops.