ALA Booklist"Readers will be pleased by Green's latest."
School Library Journal12/01/2014
Gr 6–9—Twelve-year-old Ryder lives with his mom, Ruby, in Manhattan. They have no family or friends except for their across-the-hall neighbor, Stephen Starr, who is homebound in a wheelchair. Ruby works hard cleaning hotel rooms, and Ryder has the best batting average in Little League. One day after a game, Ryder has a minor spat with Ruby, and in a freak accident, she falls off the curb directly into the path of large truck. She is rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors sadly predict that she will not survive given that her injuries have exacerbated an underlying heart condition. Ryder is alone with nowhere to go until Doyle McDonald, the fireman who was at the scene of the accident, feels sorry for the petrified boy and volunteers to find someone to care for him.
