The truth as told by Mason Buttle
(Book)

Mason Buttle is the biggest, sweatiest kid in his grade, and everyone knows he can barely read or write. But those troubles don't compare with grief. Fifteen months ago, Mason's best friend, Benny Kilmartin, turned up dead in the Buttle family's orchard. An investigation drags on, and Mason, honest as the day is long, can't understand why Lieutenant Baird won't believe the story Mason has told about that day. Mason's new friend, tiny Calvin Chumsky, is the funny and philosophical partner who brings out the best in Mason. To escape relentless bulllying by other neighborhood kids, the boys create a secret underground haven for themselves. When Calvin goes missing, Mason finds himself in deeper trouble. He's desperate to figure out what happened to Calvin, and eventually, Benny. But will anyone believe him? Leslie Connor, the acclaimed author of Waiting for Normal and All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook, has created another warm and beautifully crafted story about self-reliance, redepmtion, and hope. -- From dust jacket.

Ages 8-12.

310L,Lexile

Structure indicator: 90 (high),Syntactic indicator: 60 (medium),Semantic indicator: 100 (very high),Decoding indicator: 90 (high),Lexile.

Accelerated Reader,2.7

Accelerated Reader AR,MG,2.7,8,193450.

In English.

A Junior Library Guild selection (JLG.)

Schneider Family Book Award Winner for Middle School, 2019