Oggie Cooder #1

Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi find themselves on opposite sides of a case involving double homicides in Manhattan. Tensions rise as a Jewish community faces conflict with the Arab population, following a murder with a bloody warning. Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, a 16-year-old Arab runaway becomes entangled in a dangerous world after escaping abuse and finding refuge in a women's shelter. As Butch, a special prosecutor, searches for the murderers, he grapples with his heritage and discovers that Marlene's case is intertwined with his own, leading to heightened fear and a 'kill or be killed' scenario in New York City. From the author of So B. It, a super charming middle-grade Napoleon Dynamite with heart - the tale of a very average boy who's put in his school's spotlight when his averageness appeals to a TV show. Oggie Cooder has a talent -- he can charve better than anyone else in Truman Elementary School. (Charving, for the uninitiated, is the carving of a piece of cheese with one's teeth.) Oggie doesn't think this is anything special -- but his whole school will soon be disagreeing with him. Because after he inadvertently charves during a nationwide hunt for unusual talents, his charving puts him on the path to fame and fortune. Suddenly, he's the star of the school . . . but he's not sure that he wants to shine that way. This is Sarah Weeks at her best -- funny, clever, and kid-friendly.