We Could Be Heroes

Shiloh meets Raymie Nightingale in this funny and heartwarming debut novel about a ten-year-old that finds himself in a whole mess of trouble when his new friend Maisie recruits him to save the dog next door.

Hank Hudson is in a bit of trouble. After an incident involving the boy's bathroom and a terribly sad book his teacher is forcing them to read, Hank is left with a week's suspension and a slightly charred hardcover--and, it turns out, the attention of new girl Maisie Huang.

Maisie has been on the lookout for a kid with the meatballs to help her with a very important mission: Saving her neighbor's dog, Booler. Booler has seizures, and his owner, Mr. Jorgensen, keeps him tied to a tree all day and night because of them. It's enough to make Hank even sadder than that book does--he has autism, and he knows what it's like to be treated poorly because of something that makes you different.

But different is not less. And Hank is willing to get into even more trouble to prove it. Soon he and Maisie are lying, brown-nosing, baking, and cow milking all in the name of saving Booler--but not everything is as it seems. Booler might not be the only one who needs saving. And being a hero can look a lot like being a friend.

Author: Margaret Finnegan
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published: 02/25/2020
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.60w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9781534445253
Audience: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.7
Point Value: 8
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 506149 / We Could Be Heroes


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 12/01/2019 pg. 62
Kirkus Reviews 12/01/2019
Publishers Weekly 12/02/2019
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 02/01/2020
School Library Journal 01/31/2020 pg. 1

About the Author
Margaret Finnegan is the author of New Kids and Underdogs and Junior Library Guild Selections We Could Be Heroes and Susie B. Won't Back Down. Her other work has appeared in FamilyFun, the Los Angeles Times, Salon, and other publications. She lives in South Pasadena, California, where she enjoys spending time with her family, walking her dog, and baking really good chocolate cakes. Connect with her at MargaretFinnegan.com.