Itch, Farquhar, Polly

Isaacs sixth grade year gets off to a rough start.

For one thing, a tornado tears the roof off the school cafeteria. His mother leaves on a two month business trip to China. And as always. . . . theres the itch. It comes out of nowhere. Idiopathic, which means no one knows what causes it. It starts small, but it spreads, and soon--its everywhere. Its everything. Its why everyone calls him Itch--everyone except his best friend Sydney, the only one in all of Ohio whos always on his side, ever since he moved here.

Hes doing the best he can to get along--until everything goes wrong in the middle of a lunch swap. When Sydney collapses and an ambulance is called, Itch blames himself. And hes not the only one. When you have no friends at all, wouldnt you do anything--even something you know you shouldnt--to get them back?

Drawing on her own experiences with idiopathic angioedema and food allergies, Polly Farquhar spins a tale of kids trying to balance the desire to be ordinary with the need to be authentic--allergies, itches, confusion and all.

For everyone whos ever felt out of place, this debut novel set in the Ohio heartland is a warm, funny, and sometimes heartbreaking look at middle school misfits and misadventures. Whether you root for the Buckeyes or have no clue who they are, youll be drawn into Itchs world immediately. This engaging debut is perfect for fans of See You in the Cosmos and Fish in a Tree.