Roohi and Nate Are Not on the Same Page
A Novel
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Mar 3, 2026
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- $9.99
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- Pre-Order
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
From award-winning author-illustrators Supriya Kelkar and Jarrett Lerner comes an illustrated middle-grade novel about a pair of unlikely friends determined to save the library that brought them together
Roohi and Nate are not friends. Their paths have crossed a handful of times over the years—and the outcome has never been good. Nate thinks Roohi is a snobby know-it-all, and Roohi thinks Nate is nothing but a slacker.
But that begins to change when they both somewhat reluctantly join a reading club that meets during lunch at their school library. The Lunch Bunch allows Roohi to open up about feeling disconnected from her friends on the track team after a broken toe sidelined her for the season. Nate, who has always struggled in school, shares how tired he is of constantly being compared to his genius older brother. Despite their differences, and maybe because of them, Roohi and Nate form a friendship unlike any other they’ve ever had, with each other and with the other kids in the club.
As the Lunch Bunch gets stronger, though, things seem to be falling apart at the library. When the kids learn that their beloved librarian, Mrs. Sharp’s, job may be in danger due to budget cuts, they band together to find a solution . . . which proves to be easier said than done. Can Roohi and Nate’s new friendship survive outside of the Lunch Bunch in order to save the place that brought them together?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this winsome collaboration from Kelkar (The Cobra's Song) and Lerner (A Work in Progress), two sixth graders become unlikely allies in an effort to save their school library. Indian American Roohi views white-cued classmate Nate as an underachieving slacker. Nate, meanwhile, thinks Roohi is a snobby know-it-all. Then both join Lunch Brunch, their school's newly formed reading club, and—following personal reveals on both sides—they begin seeing each other in a new light. Roohi feels alienated by her track friends after an injury that forced her to take a break, and Nate believes his academic struggles are amplified by his parents constantly comparing him to his genius older brother. Other club members soon start opening up as well, and their honesty and vulnerability forges a stronger bond than any of them anticipated. But when budget cuts threaten to oust their beloved librarian and club adviser, the Lunch Brunch resolves to come to the rescue, even as they navigate personal challenges. Rapid-fire chapters alternate between Roohi and Nate's buoyant POVs. Grayscale comics and spot illustrations accentuate the lighthearted humor of the characters' evergreen adolescent conflicts while earnest prose and a supportive cast emphasize themes of pressure to meet expectations and managing friendships. Ages 8–12. Agents: (for Kelkar) Kathleen Rushall, Andrea Brown Literary; (for Lerner) Myrsini Stephanides, Arc Literary Management.
