Ida B.and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster

For Hart Evans, being the most popular kid in sixth grade has its advantages. Kids look up to him, and all the teachers let him get away with anything--all the teachers except the chorus director, Mr. Meinert. When Hart's errant rubber band hits Mr. Meinert on the neck during chorus practice, it's the last straw for the chorus director, who's just learned he's about to lose his job due to budget cuts. So he tells the class they can produce the big holiday concert on their own. Or not. It's all up to them. And who gets elected to run the show? The popular Mr. Hart Evans. Hart soon discovers there's a big difference between popularity and leadership, and to his surprise, discovers something else as well--it's really important to him that this be the best holiday concert ever, and even more important, that it not be the last.

Who is Ida B. Applewood? She is a fourth grader like no other, living a life like no other, with a voice like no other, and a family like no other, and her story will resonate long after this audiobook has ended. How does Ida B. cope when outside forces--life, really--attempt to derail her and her family and her future? She enters her Black Period, and it is not pretty. But then, with the help of a patient teacher, a loyal cat and dog, her beloved apple trees, and parents who believe in the same things she does (even if they sometimes act as though they don't), the resilience that is the very essence of Ida B. triumphs . . . and Ida B. Applewood takes the hand that is extended and starts to grow up.

This first novel is both very funny and extraordinarily moving, and it introduces two shining stars, author Katherine Hanningan and Ida B. Applewood.