Carter Jones is astonished early one morning when he finds a real English butler, bowler hat and all, on the doorstep--one who stays to help the Jones family, which is a little bit broken. In addition to figuring out middle school, Carter has to adjust to the unwelcome presence of this new know-it-all adult in his life and navigate the butler's notions of decorum. And ultimately, when his burden of grief and anger from the past can no longer be ignored, Carter learns that a burden becomes lighter when it is shared. Sparkling with humor, this insightful and compassionate story will resonate with readers who have confronted secrets of their own.

Gary D. Schmidt is the best-selling author of Orbiting Jupiter, the Newbery Honor and Printz Honor Book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, and the Newbery Honor Book The Wednesday Wars, and Okay for Now. He lives in Alto, Michigan, and is a professor of English at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. hmhbooks.com/schmidt