Better With Butter by Victoria Piontek

Better With Butter

Victoria Piontek

Scholastic Inc. · Print & ebook · March 7, 2023

A Middle Grade pick for readers exploring Better With Butter.

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Who it’s for
A worried girl and a fainting goat find comfort in a friendship that works both ways.
Themes
Managing anxiety, Friendship, Emotional support animals
Genres
Stories About Mental Health, Farm Animal Stories, Friendship

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For older readers: Sad Perfect, Butter, A Horse of Her Own

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About this book

A girl with anxiety disorder finds an unlikely friend -- and emotional support animal -- in the form of an adorable fainting goat. Twelve-year-old Marvel is afraid of absolutely everything -- amusement park rides, food poisoning, earthquakes, and that big island of plastic floating through the ocean. She also obsesses about smaller worries like making friends, getting called on by the teacher, and walking home alone.

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Her parents and the school therapist call her worries an anxiety disorder, but Marvel calls them armor. If something can happen, it will. She needs to be prepared. But when Marvel stumbles on a group of older kids teasing a baby goat that has mysteriously shown up on the soccer field, she momentarily forgets to be afraid and rescues the frightened animal. Only Butter isn't any old goat. She's a fainting goat. When Butter feels panic, she freezes up and falls over. Marvel knows exactly how Butter feels and precisely what Butter needs--her. Soon, the two are inseparable, and Butter thrives under Marvel's support. But Butter also helps Marvel. Everything is better with Butter by her side, and Marvel starts to imagine a life in which she doesn’t have to be so afraid . . . until she’s told she might have to give up Butter forever. Will Marvel find a way to fight for her friend? Or will she revert back to the anxious, lonely person she used to be?

Room for Courage

A worried girl and a fainting goat find comfort in a friendship that works both ways.

Come here for

  • Childhood worries treated with tenderness, not as a character flaw
  • An unlikely friendship built around recognizing fear

Expect

  • Marvel’s everyday and world-sized worries
  • A goat whose panic feels familiar to Marvel

Where it sits

Friendship78%
Stories About Mental Health54%
Farm Animal Stories48%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Farm Animal Stories
  • Stories About Mental Health
  • Depression & Mental Health
Authors
Victoria Piontek
Publisher
Scholastic Inc.
Published
March 7, 2023
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Managing anxiety · Friendship · Emotional support animals
Reading lane
Farm Animal Stories