The Metamorphosis of Bunny Baxter

“The Metamorphosis of Bunny Baxter” by Barbara Carroll Roberts takes readers on a journey as Bunny tries to get kicked out of her new school. She can’t understand why the district had to redraw the lines for where she goes to school, and now her best friend and other close friends are going to Wade’s Run for middle school, while she’s stuck at E.D. Britt.

Even though she finds herself talking to some kids at her new school, she is immediately thrust into the spotlight when she knocks over one of the eighth grade boys on her first day of school, and then finds herself in the principal’s office when a girl who was bothering her turns the tables on Bunny, making it seem like Bunny was to blame for the disturbance in the cafeteria.

All she wants is to be back with her friends at Wade’s Run, but to do that, she knows she has to get into trouble—something she has never really done—as that is how she will get sent to an alternative school. Little does she know that she doesn’t really get to choose where she goes to school—the district does. Finding a way to deal with the repercussions of the trouble she has wreaked in her new school and on her new classmates isn’t going to be easy, but she knows she has to do it to save face, even if just a little.

Bunny finds, through her getting into trouble experiment, that sometimes things aren’t quite what they seem, and sometimes what you’re looking for may be right under your nose, even if you’re not seeing it. This coming-of-age, heartfelt story about a girl who wants to find her friends may just turn into a story about how she finds herself.

Theodosia "Bunny" Baxter lives with her older sister, Bella, her veterinarian mother, and garden designer father. She's struggled with anxiety her entire school career, but her friend Alex has always helped her out. Due to school redistricting, she will be starting seventh grade at E.D. Britt Middle School when everyone else from her elementary school will be attending Wade's Run. Bunny's mother knows this is stressing her out, but also knows there is no changing it, so encourages Bunny to just do her best. While Bunny makes some good decisions (gray t shirt and shorts is excellent camoflage), she makes some bad ones as well. She borrows Bella's pink, high heeled sandals, brings along a dead cicada in a baggie as an emotional support bug, and can't manage a civil conversation at the bus stop, even though neighbor (and popular 8th grader) Kyle is perfectly nice. At school, she manages to trip on the stairs and face plant... right on Kyle's butt! Other kids make fun of her, but Sylvia feels bad for Bunny and sits with her at lunch, and they are joined by Elena. Sylvia is fairly awkard as well, and a mishap ends with the dead cicada in the food of the popular 8th grader Paige. To make matters worse, Bunny ends up in Discoveries class AND gym with both Kyle and Sylvia. Kyle doesn't say anything, but Paige is mean. Bunny hears that one of the ways students can choose an alternate school is if they are a disclipline problem, and since she already has a bad attitude, it is surprisingly easy to not turn in homework, not follow the physical education teacher's directions, and generally cause trouble. Ms. Clodfelter, the Directions teacher, is super excited about her elective class, where there aren't tests; the students all think about their place in the universe. There is a project to spend two thousand dollars in grant money, and Bunny, who is extremely interested in insects, wants to put trees and a butterfly garden near the outdoor bleachers. Other projects include a photocollage of students and buying picture books for the library, and the class will vote. Bunny has found out that if she gets expelled, she doesn't get to pick an alternate school, she will get sent to The Alternative Learning Center, which is a completely different thing. Since she is now invested in her project, and has actually been making friends, she has a difficult decision when the superintendent agrees to let her transfer back to Wade's Run. Alex is invested in volleyball and her new friends, and Bunny starts to realize that she would rather compete in the Challenge Day competition at her new school, since she's discovered quite a talent for badminton. Will she stay at her new school?