The Broken Bike Boy And The Queen Of 33Rd Street
by Sharon G. Flake

“Queen is smart. Queen is pretty. But nobody likes her except her kitty.”

Queen’s house?the biggest one on 33rd Street—looks just like a castle, and in her bedroom, she has dozens of beautiful dresses and crowns. Queen thinks she’s a real queen, and she treats everyone, even her teacher, like her royal subject.

When a new kid comes to Queen’s school, riding a broken bike and wearing smelly, worn-out clothes, Queen joins her classmates in making fun of him. Her parents insist she be nice to Leroy, but Queen doesn’t see why she should. Leroy doesn’t just stink; Queen thinks he tells lies?whoppers in fact. And when he says he’s an African prince from Senegal, Queen makes it her mission to prove Leroy is an impostor.

But as she gets closer to discovering Leroy’s real story, Queen learns the unexpected from her broken bike boy: what being a good friend and “happily ever after” really mean.