Because of the Rabbit

Homeschooled all her life, Emma fluctuates between feeling scared and excited the night before starting fifth grade at a traditional school. An unexpected rescue trip with her father, a Maine game warden, is a good distraction, and Emma ends up bonding with a lost domesticated rabbit she names Monsieur Lapin (after the trickster tales her Québécois grandparents used to tell). Her first day at school turns out badly: everyone already has a friend group, classes feel regimented, and lunch in the cafeteria is a disaster. Complicating matters is Jack, a boy in her class with special needs, with whom she has a lot in common but whom she doesn't treat as a real friend possibility. When a less-than-welcoming classmate tells Emma that Monsieur Lapin might belong to her neighbor, Emma must come to terms with the fact that having a friend-either human or animal-means taking the time to consider others' wants and needs. The interpersonal drama at school sorts itself out rather too quickly and neatly, but Emma's anxiety about social dynamics and her close relationship with her parents and devoted older brother are well drawn. Facts about pet rabbits divide chapters and provide broader meanings to contemplate within the context of the story ("Rabbits have a blind spot in front of their nose. It's the only place they can't see"). julie roachMarch/April 2019 p 86