It's on the first day of fifth grade that Evelyn meets the new boy in town e new boy named, however improbably, Queen e one with the dog named Patti Smith and tattooed parents. Though not quite gender nonconforming, Queen is, nevertheless, different, and because of it, the class bullies give him a hard time, even stealing his lunch. But nothing fazes the placid Queen. "How do you stand it?" sympathetic Evelyn asks. "I put up a force field," he answers. "All around me." That way, he explains, the dumb things others say bounce off of it. When Evelyn is invited to Queen's birthday party, she discovers two things: she is the only one Queen has invited, and his father was once a member of a celebrated band. This slender story is a quiet one without much in the way of drama; even the abrupt ending lacks resolution, though the point of accepting the extraordinary is made without too much didacticism. Young readers who enjoy slice-of-life books will groove to this one's peculiar beat.

In this brisk, insightful story from Cassidy (Not for Sale), the first days of fifth grade prove eye-opening and confidence-building for heroine Evelyn, whose home life is on the strict and staid side. Change is in the air from the outset: during Evelyn-s annual end-of-summer trip to the shoe store with her mother, they discover that the local institution has been replaced by a fluorescent-lit emporium called Budget Shoes; Evelyn winds up with a pair of canvas shoes instead of the -stiff leather loafers... that have dug at her ankles every year since kindergarten.- At school, there-s another new arrival, Queen, who shows up with a pink T-shirt, a dog named Patti Smith, and a name that makes him an instant target for jokes. Queen-s breezy self-confidence is revelatory for Evelyn, as is her introduction to Queen-s free-spirited parents (-Evelyn realizes she has never touched someone with tattoos. She-s never touched a tattoo!-). It-s an eloquent celebration of individuality and not hiding one-s true self: something that (as Evelyn knows) isn-t always simple, but (as Queen knows) actually can be. Ages 8-11. (Aug.)