Brave

## Description

In his daydreams, Jensen is the biggest hero there ever was, saving the world and his friends on a daily basis. But his middle school reality is VERY different--math is hard, getting along with friends is hard...Even finding a partner for the class project is a huge problem when you always get picked last. And the pressure's on even more once the school newspaper's dynamic duo, Jenny and Akilah, draw Jensen into the whirlwind of school news, social-experiment projects, and behind-the-scenes club drama. Jensen has always played the middle school game one level at a time, but suddenly, someone's cranked up the difficulty setting. Will those daring daydreams of his finally work in his favor, or will he have to find real solutions to his real-life problems? The charming world of Berrybrook Middle School gets a little bigger in this highly anticipated follow-up to Svetlana Chmakova's award-winning *Awkward,* with a story about a boy who learns his own way of being brave!

## Characters

* Page 5 Panel 1/1 Jensen Graham
* Page 5 Panel 1/1 Penelope Torres
* Page 5 Panel 1/1 Nina Badyal
* (Debut/Appearance) Page 7 Panel 3/5 Mr. Kristoffer
* Page 9 Panel 5/5 Foster
* Page 9 Panel 5/5 Yanic
* Page 11 Panel 2/4 Akilah Salib
* Page 11 Panel 2/4 Jenny Yao
* (Debut) Page 11 Panel 2/4 Felipe
* (Debut) Page 13 Panel 3/4 Unnamed Redhead Girl
* Page 16 Panel 1/3 Nathaniel Tucker
* Page 16 Panel 1/3 Tessa Winston
* Page 16 Panel 1/3 Felicity Teale
* Page 16 Panel 3/3 Mrs. Ferris
* Page 19 Panel 1/6 Matt (Appeared in P20P3/7)
* Page 19 Panel 1/6 Melissa (Off-Screen)
* (Debut) Page 20 Panel 1/7 Jorge Ruiz
* Page 21 Panel 2/5 Mrs. Pratt
* Page 23 Panel 1/4 Leticia Teale
* Page 23 Panel 3/4 Mr. Hisaya
* Page 24 Panel 2/4 Tyrone Little
* WIP

## Summary

*Brave* is a book set into Jensen Graham's perspective. He wants to save the world and be a NASA astronaut. He hates math, but his mother said he'd need it to be an astronaut. In math, Jensen gets a math problem wrong, so Mr. Kristoffer gives extra homework to everyone. Foster and Yanic threaten Jensen after they get extra homework, and the entire class gripes about Jensen's role in their extra work. Foster and Yanic leave when Jenny Yao, Akilah Salib approach, avoiding the eye of the press.

Jensen thinks of his daily life of a video game. He has to get past math class, the "game monsters" (Foster, Yanic, and two girls), and the prize at the end of the day is the art club. In English class, Ms. Lee tells everyone to get in groups, but Jensen has no one. Ms. Lee needed someone to leave their group to join Jensen. He was very surprised to hear Jorge Ruiz volunteer. At the art club, Penelope Torres, or Peppi, rushes in, severely excited. She explains that when Jaime Thompson and her were in the library, they talked to Mrs. Pratt, and she said they were going to have an Arts Festival at their school with a costume contest, prizes, and even author events. She says that one of the authors is going to be J.Y. Smith, author of the My Badly Drawn Life book series and Ina Cruz, who is going to do a drawing workshop. Everyone gets super excited, but Jensen is a bit nervous because he has no idea who those authors are.

After the art club meets, Jensen heads to the library and asks for a book written by J.Y. Smith and one by Ina Cruz. Mrs. Pratt puts him on a waiting list because they are very popular books. When he leaves, Yanic and Foster spot him and start chasing him. Jensen rushes over to the newspaper office and stays there for a while. Jenny offers for him to work on a project with them, and Jensen immediately says yes.

Briefly, a few days later, Tessa Winston accidentally forgets to put Jensen on the Arts Festival Group chat, and he gets math tutoring. He has to read a lizard brain packet, but weeks later, at the interview, he is forced to confess that he didn't read it. Akilah explains what the lizard brain culture is. When Jensen insists he isn't being bullied, Jenny gives him a packet he should fill out to see if he's being bullied. On all of them, he says no, except for the last, "Does someone save you a seat? Do you feel isolated/lonely?" Jensen answered, "maybe". His books he was on the waiting list for came. He dislikes My Badly Drawn Life, but loves Ina Cruz's books. On the day of the interview, Jensen says he isn't comfortable with talking about his bullying experiences. Jenny doesn't ask Jensen for help anymore after that. Jensen's whole week is then filled with disappointment, and gets to the point where Jensen feels like nobody would ever need him. He gets the flu and stays home for a whole week, feeling even worse about his life.

When Jensen returns, he notices flyers hung up that say, "Justice 4 Felicity! Bring her back!" He asks Peppi what is going on and she says that, during the costume contest, a school admin came and told Felicity to change her clothes because they were too short, but Felicity refused to change. So they said she had violated the dress code rules and suspended her. Jensen realizes the newspaper crew could fix this, and goes to their office. Jenny and Akilah have a huge fight over Felicity's story. Akilah quits being in the newspaper crew. Later, Jensen chats with Akilah and he helps her realize that their fight was a lizard brain reaction.

Akilah apologizes and so does Jenny. Akilah has the idea to write a petition to bring back Jenny. All art and science club students are told to get one hundred signatures (all together) by the end of the day. It works, and Felicity Teale comes back. After Jensen tells the newspaper crew about Foster and Yanic bullying him repeatedly, Akilah suggests telling them he doesn't like them hurting him.

When Jensen does, Foster realizes that what they were doing was wrong and tries to get Yanic to stop, but Yanic doesn't take him seriously. Yanic takes Jensen's classes and accidentally breaks them. Felipe, Akilah, and Jenny enter the room, revealing they were filming everything. They were tailing Foster and Yanic, looking for proof of the bullying. Foster and Yanic get suspended and Mr. Ramirez fixes Jensen's glasses. Tessa Winston apologizes to Jensen for teasing him, after the school board launches a bullying prevention program because they saw the video of Yanic breaking Jensen's glasses, and reviewed the lizard brain study. When Foster's suspension is lifted, at lunch, Jensen asks Foster if he could sit with him, to try and break the culture of isolation.