All the Small Wonderful Things

August 1, 2023
A dog-loving autistic Australian boy is desperate to make a friend before grade seven. Alex is a "good boy." He wants to train his cockapoo, Kevin; finish Map Five in OrbsWorld, his favorite video game; draw dogs; avoid school bullies; and do as he's told. He's positive that if he doesn't have a friend, a popular one, before starting secondary school next year, "everyone will be mean." Brown-skinned Alex, who likes rules and consistent systems, is sure he can make a real friend if he can finish Map Five, run fast enough to get his team to districts, or make sure Kevin wins a trophy at the dog show. His school, his mother, and even his annoying 14-year-old brother are supportive of his needs, and Alex has carefully practiced strategies for being a good boy. But it's exhausting being an 11-year-old in a world full of loud nonautistic people who have bizarre ideas about what's rude. Alex can recognize when one of his classmates is uninterested in his OrbsWorld stories, but his autism classes never taught him how to make them be interested--so were they really that helpful? Some classmates are nice and seem to like him, so maybe they'll help with his friend-making plan. Everything builds up to a well-earned, deeply satisfying conclusion. This charming, empathetic story centers the engaging voice of a boy who has a strong set of strategies for doing his best. Dogs and friends are terrific helpers in a confusing, neurotypical world. (Fiction. 8-11)

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September 1, 2023
Grades 4-6 In this middle-grade novel about an 11-year-old autistic boy and his dog, Alex badly wants to make friends at his school. He's convinced that helping his relay team make districts will win the friendship of Jared, a popular boy in his class, but Alex never seems to run fast enough. An even better opportunity for friendship arises in the form of the PAWS dog show: Alex loves dogs and is sure that his cockapoo, Kevin, can win in either the obedience or tricks category. Winning, Alex thinks, will make him friends for sure. But nothing goes as expected, and as he becomes friends with the neighbor boy who just moved in next door and prepares for PAWS, Alex learns that friendship isn't earned by winning. A visual countdown of the number of days to PAWS divides the book into sections. This book will appeal to readers who love dogs and want a story about how friendship often arrives unexpectedly--and a true friend will like you for you.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2023
Eleven-year-old Alex is in grade six and lives on the Gold Coast of Australia. He is autistic and feels he needs a strategy for making friends: be good enough at his favorite computer game, OrbsWorld; run faster and contribute to the track relays coming up; or win a trophy at the upcoming PAWS dog show. Foster's effective first-person narrative gives readers insight into how the protagonist's mind works, allowing them to observe the world the way he does (e.g., his difficulty with noise and crowds and with reading people's facial expressions). The tension of the story rides on the dog show, not only how Alex's dog, Kevin, will do, but also how Alex will cope with the crowds and excitement. By the novel's end, he realizes that not only has he learned how to be a friend, but he's also had a friend all along. It is a testament to Foster's craft in character development that readers will care so much about the earnest, good-hearted Alex and that the final, tear-jerking scene is such a surprise. Dean Schneider

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)