"If you have middle schoolers who are too young to fully grasp John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars and love dogs, give them this sweet tearjerker." — School Library Journal "In this beguiling tearjerker, a foster kid's luck slowly changes after he befriends a scruffy pup he finds outside the library."People magazine
Ben Coffin has never been one for making friends. As a former foster kid, he knows people can up and leave without so much as a goodbye. Ben prefers to spend his time with the characters in his favorite sci-fi books…until he rescues an abandoned mutt from the alley next-door to the Coney Island Library. Scruffy little Flip leads Ben to befriend a fellow book-lover named Halley—yes, like the comet—a girl unlike anyone he has ever met. Ben begins thinking of her as “Rainbow Girl” because of her crazy-colored clothes and her laugh, pure magic, the kind that makes you smile away the stormiest day. Rainbow Girl convinces Ben to write a novel with her. But as their story unfolds Ben’s life begins to unravel, and Ben must discover for himself the truth about friendship and the meaning of home.
1122653633
When Friendship Followed Me Home
"If you have middle schoolers who are too young to fully grasp John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars and love dogs, give them this sweet tearjerker." — School Library Journal "In this beguiling tearjerker, a foster kid's luck slowly changes after he befriends a scruffy pup he finds outside the library."People magazine
Ben Coffin has never been one for making friends. As a former foster kid, he knows people can up and leave without so much as a goodbye. Ben prefers to spend his time with the characters in his favorite sci-fi books…until he rescues an abandoned mutt from the alley next-door to the Coney Island Library. Scruffy little Flip leads Ben to befriend a fellow book-lover named Halley—yes, like the comet—a girl unlike anyone he has ever met. Ben begins thinking of her as “Rainbow Girl” because of her crazy-colored clothes and her laugh, pure magic, the kind that makes you smile away the stormiest day. Rainbow Girl convinces Ben to write a novel with her. But as their story unfolds Ben’s life begins to unravel, and Ben must discover for himself the truth about friendship and the meaning of home.
"If you have middle schoolers who are too young to fully grasp John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars and love dogs, give them this sweet tearjerker." — School Library Journal "In this beguiling tearjerker, a foster kid's luck slowly changes after he befriends a scruffy pup he finds outside the library."People magazine
Ben Coffin has never been one for making friends. As a former foster kid, he knows people can up and leave without so much as a goodbye. Ben prefers to spend his time with the characters in his favorite sci-fi books…until he rescues an abandoned mutt from the alley next-door to the Coney Island Library. Scruffy little Flip leads Ben to befriend a fellow book-lover named Halley—yes, like the comet—a girl unlike anyone he has ever met. Ben begins thinking of her as “Rainbow Girl” because of her crazy-colored clothes and her laugh, pure magic, the kind that makes you smile away the stormiest day. Rainbow Girl convinces Ben to write a novel with her. But as their story unfolds Ben’s life begins to unravel, and Ben must discover for himself the truth about friendship and the meaning of home.
Paul Griffin is the award-winning author of Ten Mile River, The Orange Houses, Stay With Me, and Burning Blue. He lives, trains dogs, and writes in New York City.
There’s nothing better than cozying up with the kind of book that tells the truth about the world and still makes you laugh, nod, and smile when you turn the final pages. These clutch-to-your-heart books are the ones you want to keep safe on a bookshelf-near-you so they’re always in reach when you need a […]
I’ll admit it: I haven’t read a lot of modern middle grade fiction. I’m a big fan of picture books and young adult novels, but when it came to reading middle grade, as an adult reader I found myself wondering what this world would be like, and if I would enjoy it. I wondered if […]