Bruce Coville writes about heroes: big heroes, little heroes, blue heroes, pink heroes, heroic trolls, and heroic humans. And what he teaches us about heroes is fairly simple – that heroes are people who make right choices in hard circumstances. Heroes are those people about whom we think, "That ogre did very good things and made the world a better place to live."
This book features some of Bruce's more delightful (and improbable) heroes: a stinky princess, a strong-willed unicorn, a magician's struggling apprentice, a boy who kept faith with an angel, a fairy godmother working to keep her wings, and even a headless ghost. The One Right Thing is really about a lot of right things that everyday people (and your average monster or two) do to grow and to help others.
More than anything, this book is also a lot of fun. It is filled with wit and wisdom and laughter and joy and a touch of the eerie. You'll find a dash of glory, a pinch of aliens, and more than a capful of whimsy.
Oh! And don't think that this is "just" a book for the young. This is a book for anyone who wants to lift their wings, spring into the sky, and fly into their own tomorrow.
Table of Contents
- Introduction (Tamora Pierce)
- The Stinky Princess
- I, Earthling
- The Guardian of Memory
- A Life in Miniature
- The Troddler
- Old Glory
- Just Like You
- The World's Worst Fairy Godmother (illustrated by Katherine Coville)
- The Box
- My Little Brother is a Monster
- The Giant's Tooth
- Ragged John
- Saying No to Nick
- Clean as a Whistle
- With His Head Tucked Underneath His Arm
- Wizard's Boy
- The Metamorphosis of Justin Jones