Janie Who? It’s hard enough being the new kid in school. It’s even tougher when all of your new classmates live in big houses and wear expensive clothes, while your parents have little and are risking everything just to give you a chance at a better life.
Now Janie’s about to do something that will make her stand out even more among the rich kids at Satterthwaite School. Something that will have everyone wondering just who Janie Sams really is. And something that will mean totally unexpected changes for Janie and her family.
“A warmhearted tale of a self-possessed girl who is determined to make life better for her parents.”
—School Library Journal
Sukie is worried–her parents are acting strange. When she runs in the house, her dad asks, “If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump off a bridge too?” When she eats peas with her fingers, Mom yells, “You’ll put an eye out with that thing!”
What is going on? Have her parents been replaced by aliens? Are they robots with broken circuits? She and her older brothers decide to investigate. And what they discover leads to a kids-against-parents war!
“Lighthearted and humorous, this easy chapter book is made all the more appealing by Bernardin’s comical black-and-white illustrations.”
—Booklist
“I’m the new kid. I am tuf. This morning I beat up a kid.”
It’s only the first day of school for Dexter, but he’s already mad at the principal, and the secretary, and the janitor, and the kids who laugh at him. When his teacher tells the class to write a story, Dexter writes about how tough he is–and how he’s already gotten into a fight. Is any of Dexter’s story true? Why was the other boy crying before Dexter hit him? And why would the other boy still want to be Dexter’s friend?
Even Dexter doesn’t know the answers to some of those questions. But as he deals with family problems, a persistent teacher, and a boy who’s strangely interested in floor wax, he discovers many surprises hidden in his own tale.
“Haddix does an excellent job of capturing the voice of a fourth-grade boy. Dexter is a multifaceted character who thinks about his actions and emotions like a smart, confused kid, never like an adult.”
—School Library Journal
Ten-year-old girls don’t wear wigs. So why is Anya wearing one? That’s what Keely’s friend Stef wants to know. She even wants Keely to tug on it, just to see if it’s real. Keely wants to know too–but when Anya’s wig falls off in front of the whole class, Keely discovers that what she really wants is to help Anya feel better. As for Anya, she just wants her hair to grow back, but no one, not even the doctors, knows whether it ever will. How can she come to terms with her disease when she can’t even look in the mirror?
“A chilling and intelligent novel. . . The author’s sympathetic but not simplistic insight will engage readers.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“A poignant story of discovery.”
—School Library Journal
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