The Trouble with Rules / Leslie Bulion / 137 pages / April Challenge Rain

"Nadie Rostaver lay on her bed and listened to rain drumming on the roof.  [She'd] already counted 73 dime-sized smudges on the ceiling, and [she] was only halfway across.  Nick and [she] made the smudges by bouncing a racquetball in  [her] room on other rainy days.  Rainy day racquetball was another thing [she] could add to [her] list of 'no mores' - no more Brambletown, no more Springville Park, no more expeditions to the stream, no more best friend."  Here in Springville Upper Elementary School, boys and girls in fourth grade barely talked to each other.  Nadie and Nick had always been inseparable best friends.  Now they were razzed by classmates.  Summer Crawford is new to school and just doesn't know the rules...or just doesn't care.  This is a heartwarming story reminiscent of Andrew Clements at this best, with a most admirable, inspiring teacher, Mr. Allen (Alien), and a cast of characters sure to win your heart.