By Norm Feuti
New York : HarperAlley, an imprint of HarperColins Publishers, 2026. Comic. 261 pages.
Ethan is worried about standing out at his new middle school for all the wrong reasons: namely that he doesn't have as much money as the affluent kids who will also be attending. Ethan's single mother is working as hard as she can at big box store to provide for their family, but they still can’t afford cool clothes and shoes he sees his classmates wearing. In fact, with no child support money coming in from his father, Ethan's mom can only provide him with her old flip phone - which he's so embarrassed by that he lies and tells kids he doesn't have a phone at all. To make matters worse, as Ethan and his best friend drift apart, he also has to work to find new friends - many of which come from the Battle Bots Club that he joins after school.
Feuti does an excellent job of bringing up issues of class without the book feeling too heavy. In fact, if your kids are fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and want something a little more serious, this would be a great book to recommend. Kids from all walks of life will love Ethan's story.

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