The Night Bus Hero Hardcover – February 8, 2022 by Onjali Q. Raúf

Description

Author: Raúf Onjali Q.

Color: Multicolor

Package Dimensions: 16x210x390

Number Of Pages: 256

Release Date: 08-02-2022

Details: Product Description

What does it take to turn a bully into a hero? Empathy and the power of forgiveness take center stage in this poignant novel by the award-winning author of The Boy at the Back of the Class.

Getting in trouble is what Hector does best. He knows that not much is expected of him. In fact, he gets some of his most brilliant prank ideas while sitting in detention. But how far is too far? When Hector plays a prank on a homeless man and is seen and shamed by a schoolmate, he reaches a turning point. He wants to be viewed differently and decides to do something that will change his fate for the better. But will anyone take him seriously?

This moving story told with humor and heart presents readers with some recognizable characters, like a bully and a teacher’s pet, and introduces them to some they may not be so familiar with— like those who are homeless, who live on the street, and whose stories are equally meaningful and important. Readers will feel motivated to see the best in others and hopeful that bad things can be overcome with effort.

About the Author

Onjali Q. Raúf is the founder and CEO of Making HerStory, a UK nonprofit that works to fight human trafficking and gender-based abuses and crimes. She is the author of
The Boy at the Back of the Class,
The Star Outside My Window, and
The Night Bus Hero. She lives in the UK. You can find her on Twitter at @OnjaliRauf.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Two Snakes and the School Soup
“HECTOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRGGGGGH! STOP RIGHT THERE!”
I froze with my hand hovering above the large vat of bright red tomato soup. It would have been a perfectly ordinary pot of soup, if it hadn’t been for the long, bright green rubber snake that was now floating around right in the middle of it.
“HECTOOOOORRR! I’M WARNING YOU!”
I slowly turned to look over my shoulder. I could see all the lunch ladies in their bright blue uniforms staring at me with their mouths wide open, like doors someone had forgot to shut. Everyone in the cafeteria had frozen. Except for Mr. Lancaster. His mouth was open wide too and getting wider like a big black hole. I could tell he was getting ready to explode, because his face had gone as pink as a baboon’s bottom and his nose was starting to twitch.
“Don’t you dare,” he hissed, glaring at the second rubber snake I was holding in my hand.
I looked down at the second snake. This one was bright red. Almost as bright red as the boring soup Mrs. Baxter had made.
I knew I had two options. The first one was to not drop the second snake in. I would still get punished for the green snake, but maybe it wouldn’t be quite as bad.
The second option was to drop the snake in. That would make Mr. Lancaster even madder than he already was and make Mrs. Baxter really mad. But it would serve her right for being the worst lunch lady we’d ever had—­always narrowing her eyes and giving us the smallest spoonfuls of the things we wanted, and plonking giant spoonfuls of the things we hated onto our plates. It was about time someone got her back. Plus it would make Will and Katie, my two best friends, laugh.
“WELL? WELL?” said Mr. Lancaster.
Looking back at Mr. Lancaster, I grinned and let go of the snake. A gasp echoed around the cafeteria as the second rubber snake joined the first with a splash. Blobs of tomato soup flew out everywhere. A splodge landed with a SPLAT on Mrs. Baxter’s head. A second lump hit with a SCHLOP on another lunch lady’s cheek. A third struck with a GLOOP on Mr. Lancaster’s twitchy nose and oozed down to the floor with a drip, drip, drip.
“RIGHT, YOUNG MAN! YOU’VE DONE IT NOW! COME WITH ME!”
That’s a thing people call me when they get really angry—­“young man.” It’s as if they’re so mad they can’t remember my name. In fact, no one ever says my name normally anymore. It’s either “young man” or “HECTOOOOOOOORRRR” shouted in a voice that tells me right away that the person is angry with me. Even Will and Katie just call me “H.”