  | Ambassador of Nowhere Texas Author: Holt, Kimberly Willis | |
| Price: $22.38 | ||
Summary:
In 2001, seventh-grader Rylee Wilson and new student Joe, whose father was a New York City first responder on 9/11, decide to find Zachary Beaver and reunite him with Rylee's father, Toby.
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: MG Reading Level: 4.70 Points: 7.0 Quiz: 510595 |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (11/01/20)
Booklist (+) (12/01/20)
The Hornbook (00/03/21)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 12/01/2020 *Starred Review* In this companion to the author’s memorable When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, 30 years have passed and it’s 2001. Former protagonist Toby Wilson is now an adult with a 12-year-old daughter, Rylee, who tells this quiet story of a small Texas town and its friendships. The book begins, however, with a friendship’s end, as Rylee and her long-time best friend, Twig, have a falling-out. But nature abhors a vacuum, and soon a new boy, Joe Toscani, comes to town from Brooklyn and—after a rocky start—becomes Rylee’s new friend. She soon discovers that Joe and his mom, Maria, have fled Brooklyn to distance themselves from the still-raw memory of the tragedy of 9/11, when Joe’s fireman father was killed at Ground Zero. It’s Joe who decides that—to surprise Toby—he and Rylee should start the Zachary Beaver Project, searching for the Fattest Boy in the World, as Zachary had been billed in the first novel. But how on earth will they find him, these many years later? Evocatively written (“stiff as burnt bacon”), this is an altogether absorbing and affecting novel. It’s obvious that Holt loves her fully realized characters and their small-town setting, and readers can’t help but feel the same. - Copyright 2020 Booklist.
