On what should be a normal school day at their normal school—recently rebuilt at great expense by the town’s supervillain after her son destroyed it with a giant robot pelican suit—things begin to spin out of control for monitor lizards Zeke, Daniel, and Alicia and Meil the hawk the moment they board the school bus. For no good reason, Zeke is deeply unsettled by Daniel’s new pink hat. The tower sprouting on the town’s tallest hill surely contains a Death Ray of Death. And Meil’s predator instincts have kicked in: what if he accidently eats his friends or their new classmate, Peggy the flounder, in her portable aquarium? At school, Zeke suspects the new guidance counselor—who hails from the same pelican crime family as their nemesis—of turning Daniel and Alicia against him. Or was it something Zeke said? With lively graphic illustrations, breakneck action, and a big heart, book two blends droll satire with belly laughs to prove that when life turns up the heat ray, you get to choose who to be. Even unlikely reptilian heroes need the courage to say they’re sorry. Once more, Ness offers probing explorations of a prejudiced status quo. . . . Miller’s art continues to give every scene a pitch-perfect feel, with illustrations that wring both understated hilarity and pathos from the pages. . . . [A] superior blend of humor and heart. —Kirkus Reviews Smart, funny, whimsical, and full of heart, this speaks directly to middle-grade readers' concerns about fitting in, keeping friendships, and navigating the world's unfairness despite well-meaning adults who haven't a clue. —Booklist Patrick Ness is the author of Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody and the #1 New York Times bestseller A Monster Calls (inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd), which won both the Carnegie Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal, was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist, and was made into a major motion picture for which he wrote the screenplay. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed and best-selling Chaos Walking trilogy, More Than This , Release , Different for Boys , The Rest of Us Just Live Here , and Burn . His many accolades include two Carnegie Medals, an Olivier Award, the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the BookTrust Teenage Prize, and the Costa Children’s Book Award. Patrick Ness lives in Los Angeles. Tim Miller is the author-illustrator of Moo Moo in a Tutu ;, What’s Cooking, Moo Moo? ; Tiny Kitty, Big City ; and Izzy Paints . He is also the illustrator of Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody by Patrick Ness, Horse Meets Dog by Elliott Kalan, Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book) and Snappsy the Alligator and His Best Friend Forever! (Probably) by Julie Falatko, Margarash by Mark Riddle, and the middle-grade series Hamstersaurus Rex by Tom O’Donnell. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and three rescue cats. Chapter One: Daniel Wears A Hat Two lizards looked at the hat a third lizard was wearing while they all waited for the school bus. The hat was pink, though that wasn’t the problem. “It’s pink,” Zeke said to Daniel, who wore the hat. “I like pink,” Daniel said. “I know you do,” Zeke said, still staring at the hat, worried for no reason he could exactly put his finger on, though, again, it wasn’t to do with the color. Daniel liked pink. This was known, much in the same way Zeke liked, say, potatoes cooked in any form. “If you were going to wear a hat, I would have guessed it would be pink.” “I know!” Daniel said, still smiling. He turned to Alicia. “Do you like it?” “I’d say it was more of a salmon color, really,” said Alicia. “I’ve never met a salmon!” Daniel said. None of them had ever met a salmon. Fish were incredibly hard to meet. They had their own schools in their own neighborhoods in lakes and rivers and the ocean. They were a whole other world. “Why are you wearing a hat?” Zeke asked, still uneasy. “Don’t you like it?” Daniel asked, sounding worried now, too. “No, no!” Zeke said. “I like it. It’s cool. Pink is cool.” “Or salmon,” said Alicia. “But?” Daniel said, a little more observant than usual. “Well,” Zeke said. “Don’t only birds wear hats?” “Is that a rule?” Daniel asked, sounding genuinely curious. And at that, the three lizards paused. Because no, there wasn’t a rule exactly . . . But there sure seemed to be a rule. Was it a rule if it wasn’t actually written down anywhere but was something that everyone knew anyway and acted like it was? “Huh,” Zeke said. Chapter Two: Our Lizards, Here They Are Here are our lizards, Zeke, Daniel, and Alicia, stepping back as the school bus pulls in. All three are what’s known as monitor lizards: Alicia and Daniel were clouded monitors whose green skin was covered in patterns of little yellow spots, and Zeke was a peach-throated monitor whose throat was, well, peach-colored. He was considerably larger than his two clouded monitor friends even though peach-throated monitors were, on the whole, smaller than clouded monitor