Foster, Kate. Unlikely Heroes Club. Candlewick, 04/2025. 198pp. Fiction. Trade $17.99. 978-1-5362-3904-1. GRADES 3–6. ADDITIONAL.
Eleven-year-old, brown-skinned Oli joins a group of other autistic kids in a weeklong program meant to help them learn social skills and coping mechanisms. During the week, he becomes fixated on an apparently abandoned dog in a nearby lot, whom he endeavors to rescue, even if his parents and the other adults don’t believe that there is a dog at all. Venturing inside Oli’s thought processes shows what he, and likely many other autistic kids, deal with every day as they struggle to be heard. Originally published in Australia, Foster’s writing brings Oli into the reader’s head, promoting empathy with him and the other characters, and getting readers to understand why Oli did what he did.
Joshua Rees—Daly City Public Library