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Lions & Liars

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Lions & Liars 
By Kate Beasley
Illustrated by Dan Santat
Farrar Straus Giroux, 2018. Realistic Fiction, 288 p.

Frederick Frederickson has an idea that the kids at school who have everything and seem popular and well-liked are like lions in the food chain and kids like him who are the nothings at school are like the fleas on the lion. So when some weird events make it so that Frederick arrives at a weekend disciplinary camp for troublesome boys and everyone thinks he is Dash—one troublemaker “lion” that everyone has heard of and thus looks up to—he decides to roll with it. Only, a category 5 hurricane is headed their way. Plus being a “lion” isn’t all that it is cracked up to be…and what if everyone finds out he wasn’t telling the truth about who he was?

This is a good book that takes a good look at what really is most important in life—and what friendship really is. Kids who like realistic fiction where themes such as bullies, truth, camp, disasters, vacations, cruises, and dodgeball are part of the story will enjoy reading about Frederick/Dash and his journey of self-discovery.
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