• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7
• Reading age: 9 to 12

Moving to a new city and a new school is never easy.

So Lauren is relieved when Callie, Treena and Maddy welcome her into their group. But then Lauren witnesses their reaction to a first-grader in a wheelchair. That kid is her little brother, Will. But she’s afraid that if she tells them, they may not want to be friends with her. Soon Lauren finds herself living a double life as she struggles with the challenges of building new friendships and trying to make it up to Will for not acknowledging him at school. At some point Lauren will have to make a decision. What is more important—friends or family?

This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for middle-grade readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read! The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

Sonya Spreen Bates' profile page

• Commended, CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens
• Short-listed, Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards - Eight to 10 years

Sonya Spreen Bates is a Canadian writer living in South Australia. She has written several books for children and adults and has been published in Australia and New Zealand as well as in Canada. She is also trained as a speech-language pathologist and works with children who have communication difficulties.