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

When Cody and his friends accept a challenge from a local gang to steal a park bench, their main concern is keeping themselves on the gang's good side. Cody learns that the stolen bench had been dedicated to the father of the English teacher who sponsors the school newspaper--the paper that Cody has just started writing for--and he's worried about the consequences. As the gang applies pressure for more from Cody and his friends, he realizes they've crossed a line, and now he has to figure out how to make it right.

CRISTY WATSON is passionate about teaching and writing. She lives near the beach in White Rock, B.C., where she hosts an open mic at her local coffee shop. She is the award-winning author of five other novels Benched, Living Rough, On Cue, Cutter Boy, and Dead to Me. She was a 2017 PNBA Book Award Nominee for On Cue.

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