The Capybara Conspiracy — Erica S. Perl

Fans of Tim Federle and Louis Sachar will love this hilarious story of what happens when the non-jocks kidnap their sports-obsessed school's beloved mascot.

Seventh-grade playwright Olive Henry is frustrated by her middle school's lack of appreciation for anything but sports. While the principal drones on and on during morning announcements about the sports teams' victories, all non-athletic club meetings are relegated to the school basement, never to be mentioned on the loudspeaker. So Olive and her best friend, Reynaldo, hatch a plan to kidnap the school's capybara mascot, planning to return it, heroically, just in time for the school's pep rally and claim a reward: permission for their drama club to practice in the auditorium. And, hopefully, some overdue respect for the school's non-athletes. But when an animal-rights student activist and an undercover athlete with murky motivations join in the conspiracy, their plans -- along with Cappy the capybara -- veer wildly out of Olive's control.