Josh isn't happy to be starting at a new school, especially as it's almost Thanksgiving. But maybe it's a chance to be somebody—not so easy for a kid who's been pretty average and is overweight besides. So when big-shot Corey Kitchens wants Josh to join him and his friends for ice hockey on Poor Rooney's pond, Josh is pumped. He can see himself out there, with the cool seventh graders, a natural success for the first time in his life. He can hardly wait for the ice to get thick. But why is it that Skye, the girl with the warm smile, doesn't trust Corey? And why does Mark, the strange kid who has Asperger's syndrome (a form of autism), put up an umbrella to protect himself from the snow? Why does he say that the coming cold will test the heart? David Patneaude's new story is a compelling tale about real friends and real courage.
"This fast-moving story is simple, straightforward, and effective, and has characters who are true to life." —School Library Journal
When David Patneaude was a youngster, his favorite story was Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, a tale of adventure, suspense, mystery, and best of all, buried treasure. David never found pirate plunder of his own, but now he digs for a different kind of hidden loot—story ideas. David lives in Woodinville, Washington, with his wife, a junior-high-school librarian. They have three grown children and two grandsons.
