An introverted boy fights to save an empty lot from auction.Eleven-and-a-half-year-old Ware can't wait to spend the Florida summer with his grandmother, enjoying "long hours free and alone." Other adultsincluding his overprotective, hyperefficient mother and sports-loving fatherdiscourage his being "off in his own world." But when his grandmother takes a fall, he must trade privacy for "Meaningful Social Interaction" in the Summer Rec program. He finds sanctuary in nearby church ruins, where he meets cynical, secretive Jolene and bird activist Ashley. When the property is slated for auction, medieval-history buff Ware invokes the "Knights' Code"a feminist but nonetheless romanticized version of the code of chivalryresolving to "be always the champion of the Right and the Good" and defend their refuge. Victory, however, takes unexpected forms. Though Pennypacker's exploration of what "fairness" means is thought-provoking, one-dimensional characterization weakens such powerful themes as abuse, self-advocacy, and self-acceptance. Tough-but-wounded Jolene is little more than a foil for the nearly angelic Ware, whose acute empathy even perceives a cut plant's "cry of betrayal." (The intense pain his empathy causes him goes unexamined.) Though introverted or sensitive kids may recognize Ware's poignant struggles to connect with his parents, his heavy-handed portrayalwhich his uncle folds neatly into the sensitive-artist tropeblunts some emotional impact. Most characters, including the kids, appear white; a supportive grocer is Greek.A well-meaning but belabored recognition of introverts, artists, and activists. (Fiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

After his grandmothers fall derails the familys summer plans, eleven-year-old Wares parents sign him up for the towns summer rec program. Ware, who loves medieval history and knights and chivalry, would just as soon spend his days alone; but then he meets a girl named Jolene outside the half-demolished church by the community center. Although shes prickly and independent (and way tougher than he is), Ware realizes that she could use a friend. As her backstory slowly reveals, Jolene has lived with her abusive, alcoholic aunt since her mother abandoned her as a toddler. Now, with the church land on which Jolenes income-producing garden sits about to be sold to developers, Ware comes up with an offbeat plan. With Jolenes help, and the promise of assistance from a city counselors daughter (herself concerned with the proposed developments detrimental effect on bird migration), he begins to dig a moat around whats left of the church. Along the way, he confronts his parents about secrets theyve kept and an overheard comment (Why cant we have a normal kid?) while blossoming into his identity as an artist. The occasional disbelief-suspension required by Pennypackers story line is grounded by her characters multidimensionality and by Jolenes wry outlookI keep forgetting! Were in Magic Fairness Land!Oh, no, darn. Still here in the real world. Elissa Gershowitz January/February 2020 p.96(c) Copyright 2020. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gr 4--6--Eleven-year old Ware prefers daydreaming about knights and the Middle Ages to socializing, a personality quirk that worries his overworked parents. Because he is happy to spend most days "off in his own world," his parents agree to let him spend the summer with his grandma. But when she breaks her hips in an accident at home, his promise of a peaceful summer is disrupted as his parents sign him up for the dreaded recreation camp. Overwhelming, loud, and full of the forced interactions and "funneration" that he hates, Ware avoids the camp by hiding out in the abandoned lot next door to the building. There he meets Jolene, a smart, secretive girl who spends her days planting a garden in the rubble of the church that once stood in the lot. Together, the two form a tentative connection; Jolene planting her garden, and Ware creating a castle from the ruins of the church. When their shared sanctuary is threatened by outside forces, the titular "real world," Ware and Jolene's relationship deepens into a delicate friendship as they band together to save the lot. This sweet, sensitive book shines a light on the introverts and misfits. Despite wishing he could live up to his parents' desire for a "normal" kid, Ware's unique personality is validated by a kindred spirit, his uncle, who suggests that he is an artist with his own vision of the world. Ware's quiet sensibility blends well with Jolene, who's tough exterior comes from hardship and an abusive relative. VERDICT Perfect for fans of Pennypacker's earlier novels Summer of the Gypsy Moths and Pax. Recommended for purchase in most libraries.--Kristy Pasquariello, Westwood Public Library, MA

When Ware's grandmother falls and breaks her hip, the idle summer that the relentlessly scheduled 11-and-a-half-year-old was looking forward to is canceled. His parents make last-minute arrangements for him to attend a community center camp, instead, a prospect that prompts "the familiar contracting retreat of the thing that lived deep in his chest, which must be his soul." Impulsively, Ware escapes to the rubbled remains of a nearby church--the perfect place for the Middle Ages--obsessed boy to build his own medieval refuge while pretending to attend camp. The space is already occupied, however: prickly Jolene has claimed it as a garden to grow papayas that she'll sell to make up for her aunt "drinking the rent." The two establish an uneasy truce, agreeing to share the space at a distance, until they must join forces to prevent the intrusion of the real world by way of a looming crisis. Pennypacker's humane tale is written with straightforward grace and populated with exquisitely layered characters; vulnerable, imaginative Ware's journey to self-acceptance is particularly skillfully rendered. Ages 8--12. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Feb.)