Fifth-grader Frederick is sent to a disciplinary camp where he and his terrifying troop mates have just started forging a friendship when they learn a Category 5 hurricane is headed their way. - (Baker & Taylor)

A fifth-grader who navigates the social order as a food-chain metaphor, where bullies are lions and he is only a flea, inadvertently lands in a disciplinary camp for troublesome boys, where he and his fellow troop mates forge tentative friendships and must learn to trust one another in order to survive a hurricane. By the best-selling author of Gertie's Leap to Greatness. Simultaneous eBook. - (Baker & Taylor)

Frederick Frederickson has a food-chain theory about life. There are lions, like the school bully. Gazelles, like the bullied kids. There are meerkats, and the fleas that live on the butts of meerkats. Frederick's a flea.

Fifth grade is off to a terrible start when Frederick is sent to a disciplinary camp for troublesome boys. His fellow troop mates—Nosebleed, Specs, The Professor, and little-yet-lethal Ant Bite—are terrifying. But in between trust-building exercises and midnight escape attempts, a tenuous friendship grows between them. Which is lucky, because a Category 5 hurricane is coming and everyone will have to work together—lions and fleas alike—to survive!

Kate Beasley outdoes herself in this hilarious, whip-smart tale of brotherhood, survival, and what it really means to be a friend.

Holes meets The Goonies in the highly anticipated second middle-grade novel from the author of Gertie's Leap to Greatness! - (McMillan Palgrave)

Kate Beasley holds a master's in writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her first novel, Gertie's Leap to Greatness, was a Junior Library Guild selection, an IndiesIntroduce Selection, and a multi-region Indie Bestseller. The New York Times Book Review called it "breathlessly, effortlessly fun." Kate lives with her family in Claxton, Georgia, with two dogs, one parrot, lots of cows, and a cat named Edgar.

Dan Santat is the Caldecott Medal–winning and New York Times–bestselling author and illustrator of The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, After the Fall, and the road trip/time travel adventure Are We There Yet? His artwork is also featured in numerous picture books, chapter books, and middle-grade novels, including Dav Pilkey's Ricky Ricotta series. Dan lives in Southern California with his wife, two kids, and many, many pets.

Booklist Reviews

*Starred Review* Frederick Frederickson knows he's never been popular, but he's convinced that he has the potential to be, despite his friend Joel's philosophy of life, which places him at the literal bottom of a social hierarchy ruled by "lions": Frederick is a flea on a meerkat's butt. Plus, his precious family vacation aboard a cruise ship—his one moment in the year to escape life as a flea—has been canceled by a distant hurricane. His luck might be turning, though, when he is accidentally set adrift in Joel's family's motorboat, which eventually runs aground at a "transformational" (aka disciplinary) wilderness camp for boys, where he is mistaken for Dash Blackwood—a lion if there ever was one. Beasley follows her acclaimed debut, Gertie's Leap to Greatness (2016), with a winning story that matches earnestness with humor. As Frederick basks in the glory of being cool, he grapples with the moral and practical challenges of living a lie. His friendship with his cabinmates—Specs, Nosebleed, Ant Bite, and the Professor—is particularly enlightening as he realizes he is no better than the "bad" kids there. Frederick is a highly relatable character, and as unlikely as his situation is, Beasley has her bases covered and renders it plausible. Though unavailable for review, Santat's illustrations should further enhance this transformative read. Grades 4-7. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews.

Horn Book Guide Reviews

Frederick Fredrickson is bullied, even by his so-called friends. After a boating dare goes awry, Frederick washes ashore at a disciplinary camp for boys, where he is mistaken for a notorious-bully camper as a hurricane approaches. Frederick is a sympathetic protagonist for this story of bullying and boyhood; mild crude humor, camp shenanigans, and a lion encounter add to the entertainment. Includes occasional black-and-white illustrations by Santat. Copyright 2019 Horn Book Guide Reviews.

Kirkus Reviews

When social misfit Frederick Frederickson rises to popularity due to a case of mistaken identity, he struggles to maintain the charade. Even his friends see him as a loser, a flea among lions, but 10-year-old Frederick Frederickson is sure that he can overcome the pecking order of fifth grade, someday becoming "his true awesome self." After a game of dodgeball goes wrong, Frederick can only hope that his family's annual cruise will give him respite from school. But when a Category 5 hurricane cancels his vacation, Frederick is pushed to the limit and accepts a dare that sends him floating down a river without a paddle. Coming ashore at Camp Omigoshee, a disciplinary camp for boys, Frederick is mistaken for a camper whose bad reputation is infinitely cooler than his own. In his effort to keep up the facade, Frederick discovers that the other boys are also not what they seem. Beasley's sophomore novel (Gertie's Leap to Greatness, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, 2016) is chock fu ll of zany, nicknamed characters (Frederick shares a cabin with Nosebleed, Ant Bite, Specs, and the Professor) coming together in a story of friendship among boys. The boys' races are not specified, though one character has an Indian name, and Santat depicts one as black and another as brown-skinned; Frederick is white. Readers will find it difficult not to compare this book to Louis Sachar's more complex Holes, though depth is added with Frederick's recognition of his economic privilege and questioning of the power his fake popularity gives him. A fun coming-of-age romp. (Fiction. 8-11) Copyright Kirkus 2018 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly Reviews

Not much is likely to go well for a boy whose own parents named him Frederick Frederickson: even Frederick's best friend, Joel, tells him, "You need to accept that life is going to be horrible for you." So when an impending hurricane cancels Frederick's favorite event of the year—a family cruise to the Caribbean—he is not overjoyed he'll be home to attend Joel's birthday party after all. Things go downhill quickly from there when, at the party, Joel's prank to send Frederick on another cruise results in the boy accidentally falling into a rudderless boat; Frederick is saved from the alligator-infested waters only when he washes up hours later on the shores of a camp for troubled boys. Mistaken for a notorious camp veteran, Frederick has a brief turn at being a fearsome leader (the lion of the title). Over the course of the weekend—and many comedic interludes highlighting his ineptitude at competition—Frederick realizes he does not want to be king of the playground, the cafeteria, or anywhere else. He just wants a friend, but in order to have one, he will have to learn how to be one. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. Author's agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management. Illustrator's agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House. (June)

School Library Journal Reviews

Gr 3–5—Frederick Frederickson has school social life figured out: kids are either lions, gazelles, meerkats, or, like him, fleas on meerkats' butts. Pals Joel and Raj enjoy teasing him but when one of their jokes goes too far, Frederick is hurt. Then, a quirky chain of events strands Frederick at a boys' camp. The 10 year old assumes the identity of another camper, reasoning "This was his chance to start over and become the person he was supposed to be." Unbeknownst to Frederick, he's landed in a disciplinary camp and the boy he's masquerading as is a notorious troublemaker. Could this be Frederick's path to lion status? Beasley (Gertie's Leap to Greatness) writes with ease, engaging readers quickly with hapless but hopeful Frederick's sincerity. His struggles with popularity and self-confidence make him a relatable, realistic protagonist readers would want for a friend. The plot moves quickly, building to a climax foreshadowed early in the novel, as Frederick and fellow camper Ant Bait survive a harrowing night in a hurricane. The novel's overall success is a bit undermined, however, by derivative elements. Several details skew a bit too close to the plot of Louis Sachar's Holes. Beasley's explanations for why some characters were sent to the camp are improbable, so an ability to suspend disbelief is required. VERDICT A light read—if not all that original—whose straightforward message about self-acceptance and true friendship will leave readers smiling.—Marybeth Kozikowski, Sachem Public Library, Holbrook, NY