Summarizer
Roy is the new kid in town and a boy named Dana Matherson is bullying him. One day on his way to Trace Middle School Roy sees a boy running along the sidewalk. Roy notices the running boy is bare foot.
Also at the same time, Officer Delinko was sent to the future site of Mother Paula’s All-American Pancake House. “Some kids” had pulled up all the survey sticks out of the ground. The kids pull these sticks out because a nest of burrowing owls are living where they want Mother Paula's to go. This would ruin their environment and make them move to another location.
Roy couldn’t get the running boy out of his head. Roy meets a boy named Garrett at school. Dana tried to choke Roy on the bus. Roy hit Dana hard and broke his nose. The vice-principal suspended him from the bus for two weeks.