cover image Lone Bean

Lone Bean

Chudney Ross. HarperCollins/Amistad, $15.99 (208p) ISBN 978-0-06-166011-5

Eight-year-old Chrysanthemum "Bean" Gibson has high hopes for the first day of third grade, but she has an at-home meltdown after things go wrong. The star of Ross's debut expects tons of school-year fun, never dreaming that she'd be dealing with the changed loyalties of her best friend, a class bully, and her father's demand that she learn to play a musical instrument. As the story meanders along, Bean sorts through her problems and misunderstandings with help from supportive parents, occasionally %E2%80%A8"m-e-a-n MEAN" older sisters, some unexpected new pals%E2%80%94and only a few episodes of "twisty-turny feelings in [her] tummy." Ross, the youngest daughter of singer Diana Ross and the owner of the California children's bookstore Books and Cookies, creates a relatable protagonist with gumption, whose insights into others' feelings make her an empathetic friend ("Now I know Tanisha is a meany and a bully, but something in my insides makes me feel bad. I mean, she has no friends, and no sisters and no ice cream"). Things wrap up neatly, leaving the door open for further tales. Ages 8%E2%80%9312. Agent: Frank Weimann, the Literary Group. (July)