Richard looks at Gavin as if he’s grown a third eye. 'Well, what do you have?' Richard asks, frowning.

He hates to admit that his mom doesn’t allow overly violent video games. Gavin stops tossing his sock ball and sits on the floor, staring at the blank screen of the television. Richard shrugs and plops down on the sofa. He throws his balled socks at the ceiling once more and catches them easily, hoping Richard’s impressed.Īre we still going to play video games? For some reason Richard seems a bit unsure. Hi, he says sheepishly from the living room doorway. He tiptoes past her, probably a little afraid of her looming presence. Danielle steps aside and lets Richard in. No one knows about that nickname at his new school. Without answering, Danielle calls over her shoulder, Gavmeister, your friend’s here. Richard stares up at her for a few seconds. Soon, Gavin hopes.įinally, the doorbell rings-and before he can get up to answer it, Danielle, Miss Big-Eighth-Grader, Miss Big-Thirteen-Trying-to-Be-Sixteen, opens the front door and stares down at Richard. Luckily, she’s going across the street to babysit. He tosses the balled socks up at the ceiling again just to spite her. Unfortunately, she was not left behind at the old house. Gavin has his socks rolled into a ball, and while he waits, he tosses the sock ball up hard until it hits the ceiling and comes back right into his hands. Anyway, Richard chose him for his team in kickball, so Richard’s a nice guy. Well, maybe not a star, to be exact, but he thinks he’s pretty good. There’s the new house and the new backyard and the new kids on his street who don’t even know that he is practically a soccer star. In this new neighborhood, there’s a lot to get used to.

Gavin had lots of friends at his old school, Bella Vista Elementary, but he knows that you have to start over whenever you change schools. Gavin likes Richard, his friend at Carver Elementary. Gavin is waiting for his new friend, Richard, to come over to play video games. Summary: Gavin wants to make a good impression at Carver Elementary, where no one knows he excels at soccer and skateboarding, but an annoying big sister, a bully, and his great aunt’s Pomeranian are not helping. The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:ĭog days / by Karen English illustrations by Laura Freeman. The illustrations were executed digitally. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.Ĭlarion Books is an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Laura FreemanĪll rights reserved.

Dog days by karen english