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MACARONI BOY Katherine Ayres Hardcover Delacorte Books for Young Readers | February 2003 | $15.95 | 0-385-73016-0 | Ages 8–12 Hardcover Library Binding Delacorte Books for Young Readers | February 2003 | $17.99 | 0-385-90085-6 | Ages 8–12

The time is 1933, and the Great Depression has affected every family in America. All around the Strip, Pittsburgh’s warehouse district, 12-year-old Mike Costa sees hobos searching for food. But there are bigger problems for Mike Costa at home and at school. His grandfather suffers from dementia, and Andy Simms, a local bully, torments him. When his grandfather becomes physically sick, Mike begins to relate his illness to the mysterious death of a number of rats around his neighborhood. Using his detective skills, Mike, along with his friend Joseph, engages in an investigation and discovers that Andy Simms holds the answer to the mystery. One day Mike follows Simms home, and when he sees the neighborhood where Simms lives, Mike begins to realize why Simms bullies him. Does Mike swallow his pride and approach Simms for the sake of Grandpap?

Prepared by Pat Scales, Director of Library Services, the South Carolina Governor’s School for Arts and Humanities, Greenville , SC

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