New Kids and Underdogs
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- 10,99 €
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- 10,99 €
Publisher Description
When perpetual new kid Robyn signs up her special needs dogs for agility training, she gets an unexpected lesson in friendship in this “well-paced…thoughtful” (Kirkus Reviews) novel from the author of We Could Be Heroes and Susie B. Won’t Back Down.
Robyn Kellen has been the new kid six times. She’s practically an expert on the subject and has developed foolproof rules to help her get by: Blend in, don’t go looking for trouble, and move on. Unfortunately, Robyn’s mom has a rule, too: Robyn must do an after-school activity.
When Robyn discovers a dog agility class, she thinks she’s found the perfect thing—but then her dogs, Sundae and Fudge, are rejected from the class. Sundae won’t do anything without Fudge, and Fudge is deaf and blind, and the instructor refuses to change the rules to fit their needs. Luckily, the instructor’s grandson, Nestor—a legend at Robyn’s new school—offers Robyn a deal: If she helps him with math, he’ll train Sundae and Fudge. Problem is, Robyn isn’t so great at math herself, so she’s forced to recruit the class outcast, Alejandra, to help.
Suddenly, Robyn finds herself surrounded by people who do anything but blend in—and sticking to her rules becomes harder than ever. But as Robyn learns how to adapt the rules of agility for Sundae and Fudge, she will find that some rules are worth breaking altogether.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ten-year-old Robyn Kellen is used to being new in school, having moved regularly for her biology professor single mother's work. Heading into the fifth grade in San Luis Obispo, Calif.—a change that has the potential to become permanent—Robyn is determined to "minimize the worst of being a new kid." In a notebook given to her by her father, she drafts a list of new-kid rules based on the principle of cause and effect: "By reading the signs and sending the right signals, couldn't she make it easier? Couldn't she gain some control over the matter?" The year starts well, with two girls seemingly trying to befriend her. Robyn's failed attempt to enroll her Jack Russell terrier mixes in an agility training class brings her into close contact with Alejandra, Jonathan, and Nestor, but she worries that befriending them breaks her rules. With plenty of support, Robyn learns in her own time how her rules might be limiting her, making final realizations both hard-won and satisfying in this assured, dynamic-aware novel from Finnegan (Susie B. Won't Back Down). Robyn presents as white; secondary characters read as racially diverse. Ages 8–12.
