Cassidy's Guide to Everyday Etiquette (and Obfuscation)

Eleven-year-old Cassidy Corcoran couldn%E2%80%99t be more upset that her great-grandmother%E2%80%99s dying wish was that she attend a five-week etiquette course, especially since her sister gets to go to forensic camp. Cassidy%E2%80%99s dream, rather, is to become a hobo, riding the rails (she%E2%80%99s even renamed herself %E2%80%9CCalamity Cassidy%E2%80%9D). During the etiquette course, Miss Melton-Mowry%E2%80%99s lessons in posture, table manners, and proper conversation alternately annoy and bore Cassidy. What%E2%80%99s worse, ever since a young beauty pageant contestant moved in next door, Cassidy%E2%80%99s best friend Jack seems more interested in being the girl%E2%80%99s handyman than being Cassidy%E2%80%99s partner in crime. But Cassidy makes some unlikely friends in etiquette class, including Officer Weston, an %E2%80%9Cuncivilized clod%E2%80%9D of a policeman, and enemy-turned-ally Delton Bean. While Stauffacher%E2%80%99s (the Animal Rescue Team series) plot drags in the middle, Cassidy%E2%80%99s flair for the dramatic (%E2%80%9CI had no idea there was a word for the very thing I%E2%80%99m genius at!%E2%80%9D Cassidy thinks after learning the meaning of %E2%80%9Cobfuscate%E2%80%9D) makes for many amusing moments along the way. Ages 8%E2%80%9312. Agent: Wendy Schmalz, Wendy Schmalz Literary Agency. (June)