Hank Hudson can’t stand one more day of listening to his teacher read aloud the horrible, sad book about a boy who is hiding in the forest from the Nazis. He’s already protested and asked to be excused, to no avail. So he does the only thing left to do: burn the book.

With this scene of attempted book burning (no one is harmed and even the book survives the attempt), we are introduced to Hank who loves rocks, and perceptive readers will understand that ten year old Hank is “on the spectrum” even though the label of autism is not introduced until later in the story. Hank’s unsuccessful book burning catches the attention of a girl in his class, Maisie, who is looking for an accomplice and a friend to help her rescue a dog named Booler, and off we go with Maisie and Hank on a series of madcap, slightly dangerous, highly illegal adventures.

Maisie is not autistic, but she is quite immature and fixated on Booler, a dog with a seizure disorder. Maisie sympathizes with the next door neighbor’s dog to an excessive degree. Hank, on the other hand, just wants a friend, and he finds one in Maisie, even though the two fifth graders both have some things to learn about true friendship.

This middle grade fiction book is a funny, easy read with a good message–“different is not less”–and a good heart. The story is a sensitive yet entertaining portrayal of autism and other differences and of good intentions gone awry.