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    Making Plans for Nigel Binty

    Author Shawn K. Stout
    Read by Jeff Ebner, Jorjeana Marie
    Audiobook Download
    Audio | Listening Library
    On sale Mar 17, 2026 | 7 Hours and 0 Minutes | 9798217409129
    Grades 3-7
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    A heartwarming middle grade novel about figuring out who you are when it seems like everyone else has already decided for you, for fans of Erin Entrada Kelly and Gary D. Schmidt.

    Nigel Binty has spent sixth grade trying to stick to a plan. His problem is the plan keeps changing in unexpected ways. His only friend has dropped him. His dad moved out two months ago. His anxiety isn’t getting any better. None of that is part of the plan.  

    When Glory Bea Medford (yes, that’s her real name) turns up at school in March, she plans to keep the reason for her mid-year transfer a secret. Glory Bea prizes being truthful but having everyone find out her father embezzled money from his church was bad enough the first time around. She doesn’t plan to go through that again.

    Told in two perspectives, with Glory Bea’s chapters presented as unmailed letters to her incarcerated father, Shawn K. Stout uses warmth and humor to explore what happens when two sixth graders overwhelmed by major life changes cross paths.
    © Erin Summerill
    Shawn K. Stout (www.shawnkstout.com) grew up in Hagerstown, Maryland, the same town where A Tiny Piece of Sky takes place, but she did her growing up more than forty years after the events in this story occur. She is the author of the Not-So-Ordinary Girl series and the Penelope Crumb series and has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Shawn K. Stout lives with her family in Maryland. You can follow her on Twitter at @shawnkstout. View titles by Shawn K. Stout

    About

    A heartwarming middle grade novel about figuring out who you are when it seems like everyone else has already decided for you, for fans of Erin Entrada Kelly and Gary D. Schmidt.

    Nigel Binty has spent sixth grade trying to stick to a plan. His problem is the plan keeps changing in unexpected ways. His only friend has dropped him. His dad moved out two months ago. His anxiety isn’t getting any better. None of that is part of the plan.  

    When Glory Bea Medford (yes, that’s her real name) turns up at school in March, she plans to keep the reason for her mid-year transfer a secret. Glory Bea prizes being truthful but having everyone find out her father embezzled money from his church was bad enough the first time around. She doesn’t plan to go through that again.

    Told in two perspectives, with Glory Bea’s chapters presented as unmailed letters to her incarcerated father, Shawn K. Stout uses warmth and humor to explore what happens when two sixth graders overwhelmed by major life changes cross paths.

    Author

    © Erin Summerill
    Shawn K. Stout (www.shawnkstout.com) grew up in Hagerstown, Maryland, the same town where A Tiny Piece of Sky takes place, but she did her growing up more than forty years after the events in this story occur. She is the author of the Not-So-Ordinary Girl series and the Penelope Crumb series and has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Shawn K. Stout lives with her family in Maryland. You can follow her on Twitter at @shawnkstout. View titles by Shawn K. Stout

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