By Sarah Weeks, Gita Varadarajan
One week, two boys who think they have nothing in common, and the class bully who accidentally makes them friends.
Ravi has just moved from India and is sure he'll be the smartest, most popular child at his new American school. Joe has been at this school forever, but a learning difference and a too-loud voice have made him a target. The two boys size each other up as opposites, until they both land in the sights of the same smirking bully, Dillon Samreen, and discover over one long week that they're more alike than either expected.
The story runs over just one week and switches between Ravi and Joe chapter by chapter, so it moves fast and a child gets two windows on the same events, which is a great way to see how easily two people misread each other. It's short, funny, and pointed, and it's especially good for a child who's ever been the new one, the picked-on one, or the one whose lunch smells different from everyone else's. The recipes and glossary in the back are a nice bonus.