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By DeeDee

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By Peter Hautman
Candlewick, 2017. Fiction. 278 p.
David has an older sister who is a straight A student, and a younger brother who has sever autism.  He feels like he isn't good at anything, except competitive eating.  He can down a whole pizza in three minutes!  He follows other competitive eaters' careers, and when a memento from a famous hot dog eating competition comes available on an online auction website, he "borrows" his mother's credit card to bid on it. Never a good idea.

David's relationship with his autistic brother is very sweet and lots of kids will relate to David's struggle to find his place in the world and in his family. Certain kinds of kids will be enthralled with Hautman's detailed descriptions of the in's and out's (literally) of competitive eating. This is definitely not a book for anyone with a weak stomach, but for kids who don't mind a little "gross out" element, this is a great choice.
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