Save Me a Seat
Ravi has just moved from Bangalore to a suburban New Jersey elementary school where he assumed his top marks and cricket talent would make him an obvious favorite, and is immediately furious to find himself mistaken for the quiet, solidly built kid in the back row. Joe, the quiet kid in the back row, has an auditory processing disorder that makes cafeterias unbearable and has learned to keep his head down while the class clown Dillon Samreen makes his week miserable. Over the course of one week, told in alternating voices by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan, the boys trade misunderstandings, embarrassments, and a shared antagonist until they finally sit down on the same side of the lunchroom. Published in 2016, the middle-grade novel works as a small, kind study of what assumptions cost.
What you might want to know about Save Me a Seat
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Joe lives in New Jersey and processes sound differently than his classmates. Ravi has just moved from India and expects to be the smartest kid in fifth grade. Across one week, the school bully gives them a common enemy.
Save Me a Seat is middle grade, recommended for readers 8 to 12. The dual narration between two fifth-grade boys (one Indian-American, one struggling with learning differences) makes it a popular classroom read.
Save Me a Seat is a standalone, but Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan have written related middle-grade fiction. Each of their solo and co-authored novels stands on its own.
Save Me a Seat was written by Sarah Weeks, published in 2016 by Scholastic, Incorporated.
Save Me a Seat is 256 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Save Me a Seat takes most readers 4 to 6 hours to finish.
Save Me a Seat is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
