From Louis Sachar, the multi-award-winning author of Holes, comes the New York Times bestseller that's been nominated for 13 state awards and counting!   They got lost. The world got scared. And the mud got fuzzy. Fifth grader Tamaya Dhilwaddi and seventh grader Marshall Walsh have been walking to and from Woodridge Academy together since elementary school. But their routine is disrupted when bully Chad Hilligas challenges Marshall to a fight.   To avoid the conflict, Marshall takes a shortcut home through the off-limits woods. Tamaya, unaware of the reason for the detour, reluctantly follows. They soon get lost. And then they find trouble. Bigger trouble than anyone could ever have imagined. What they uncover might affect the future of the world.   FUZZY MUD is an imaginative and suspenseful story of the great lengths we’ll go to for friendship and family, the mishaps and breakthroughs that are made in the name of science, and the wonders of mud . . . fuzzy mud.    A JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD SELECTION A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR   “The children are well-realized characters and agents within their immediate social worlds . . . [and] the very fate of the world is at stake.” — The New York Times   “Holds as much suspense as fuel for discussion.” — Booklist , Starred A New York Times  Bestseller Winner of the Georgia Children's Award and the Buckeye Children's Teen Book Award (Ohio) "Grounded in well-rounded central characters, this compelling novel holds as much suspense as fuel for discussion.”— Booklist , Starred "Fast-paced. An exciting story of school life, and bullies that becomes a quick meditation on the promise and dangers of modern science."— Kirkus Reviews "This engaging eco-cautionary tale... will captivate readers while giving them plenty to think about."— School Library Journal ". . . vintage Sachar for the way it brings big ideas to everyday drama."— The Horn Book "Sachar blends elements of mystery, suspense, and school-day life into a taut environmental cautionary tale."— Publishers Weekly "An engrossing plot . . .a most entertaining ride . . . .Readers will devour this delightful book just as they did with HOLES. A unique story that keeps readers on their toes."— VOYA "Sachar is a master at compact and unintimidating plotting; the school story unfolds with swift authenticity in its own right and then becomes tautly suspenseful."— The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books ". . .lively narrative . . . snappy dialogue and plenty of action."— Shelf Awareness LOUIS SACHAR is the author of the #1 New York Times  bestseller Holes , which won the Newbery Medal, the National Book Award, and the Christopher Award, as well as Stanley Yelnats’ Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake ; Small Steps , winner of the Schneider Family Book Award; and The Cardturner, a Publishers Weekly Best Book, a Parents’ Choice Gold Award recipient, and an ALA-YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Book. His books for younger readers include There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom , The Boy Who Lost His Face , Dogs Don’t Tell Jokes , and the Marvin Redpost series, among many others. 1 Tuesday, November 2 11:55 a.m. Woodridge Academy, a private school in Heath Cliff, Pennsylvania, had once been the home of William Heath, after whom the town had been named. Nearly three hundred students now attended school in the four-story, black-and-brown stone building where William Heath had lived from 1891 to 1917, with only his wife and three daughters. Tamaya Dhilwaddi’s fifth-grade classroom on the fourth floor had been the youngest daughter’s bedroom. The kindergarten area had once been the stables. The lunchroom used to be a grand ballroom, where elegantly dressed couples had sipped champagne and danced to a live orchestra. Crystal chandeliers still hung from the ceiling, but these days the room permanently smelled of stale macaroni and cheese. Two hundred and eighty-nine kids, ages five to fourteen, crammed their mouths with Cheetos, made jokes about boogers, spilled milk, and shrieked for no apparent reason. Tamaya didn’t shriek, but she did gasp very quietly as she covered her mouth with her hand. “He’s got this superlong beard,” a boy was saying, “splotched all over with blood.” “And no teeth,” another boy added. They were boys from the upper grades. Tamaya felt excited just talking to them, although, so far, she had been too nervous to actually say anything. She was sitting in the middle of a long table, eating lunch with her friends Monica, Hope, and Summer. One of the older boys’ legs was only inches away from hers. “The guy can’t chew his own food,” said the first boy. “So his dogs have to chew it up for him. Then they spit it out, and then he eats it.” “That is so disgusting!” exclaimed Monica, but from the way her eyes shone when she said it, Tamaya could tell that her best friend was just as excited as she was to have the attention of the older boys.