the woods was flooded by AUTHOR’S NOTE grew up on a dead-end street with a forest behind our house —a large wooded area ] that had once been a golf course. I remember my dad taking me for my first walk Jn the woods. I was five years old. He taught me the names of che trees and the animals. He taught me about poison ivy and wild berries. We discovered a patch of creeping bent, all hat remained ofthe old golf course. ‘Those woods became my playground, my refuge, my universe. swung across a ravine ‘on a grapevine swing and spent many hours playing inside a deadfall fort I sank to ry knees in a peat bog, suffered countless mosquito bites and netele stings, and buile memories that will be with me to the end of my life. When I was ten years old, pare of anearby creck, It became a hundred acre, deadhead studded lake, perfect for rafting in the summer and ice-skating in the wincer. ‘Today, a third of the old woods has been leveled co make room for auto dealerships and office buildings. The rest has been preserved as a nature center. Ids no longer the wild place I remember — there are fences and wood-chip nals, incerprecive signage and rules. I sill go there a few times a year to search our the old paths and reawaken memories, but itis nor the same. The magic is sill chere, but it has become civilized and lechargic. Otherwood is rmy eulogy to the woods that now live only in my memory. A PRAISE FOR SLIDER em = Slide 4 “This novel is laugh-ourloud funny and genuinely sweet. Though the premise of scarfing down pizzas seems silly, this is ultimately a meaningful book with insight into having 2 sibling wich special needs and the general ups and downs thar come wich being aceenager. A fantastically funny, relatable book that will be an easy sell and a rewarding, read for most middle-graders.” — School Library Journal (starred review) 4 “Haucman is both funny and uplifting in chis good-natured story of incoming high school freshman David Miller, whose chief ralen is che ability to eat an entire pizza in under five minutes... Hautman offers lots of great takeaways about loyalty friendship, and perseverance, wrapped in a wholly enjoyable story about a kid who, in the end, just loves to eat pizza.” — Publishers Weekly (stared review) 4 “Jackofall genres Hautman turns to the mouthwatering, madcap world of competitive cating... Wich crystalline prose, delectable detail rip-roaring humor, and larger-than- life characters, Hautman gracefully examines what ft means to be a friend, a family mem» Hc. 9780763690700 ber, and, ehrough it all, a kid trying to do che right ching, Readers will race to devour it, ‘Alesse 9 choskandin aio but like Papa Pigorina’s colossal BDT pizzas, this infectious rale isa ching co be savored.” ‘$1699 (21.99 CAN) Ages 10 ee 14284 ogee —Booklis (scarred review)