It’s time for little Maximillian to go to school! His wealthy parents have chosen the most perfect school for him where he will learn to be kind and no one will bully him, or call him names, or hurt him – ever! Why? All of the students except Max are really good robots! He never guesses they aren’t real and makes a best friend in Josie. She opens his eyes to all sorts of innocent fun things he’s never experienced like the feel of mud between your toes! For six years they go happily through school as besties. But then Josie tells Max the secret of the whatnots, and his world begins to unravel. Whose reality can he believe? From master of suspense author Margaret Peterson Haddix comes another page-turning stand-alone adventure perfect for fans of Cog and Bad Magic.

No matter what anyone tells you, I'm real.

That's what the note says that Max finds under his keyboard.

He knows that his best friend, Josie, wrote it. He'd know her handwriting anywhere. But why she wrote it--and what it means--remains a mystery.

Ever since they met in kindergarten, Max and Josie have been inseparable. Until the summer after fifth grade, when Josie disappears, leaving only a note, and whispering something about "whatnot rules."

But why would Max ever think that Josie wasn't real? And what are whatnots?

As Max sets to uncover what happened to Josie--and what she is or isn't--little does he know that she's fighting to find him again, too. But there are forces trying to keep Max and Josie from ever seeing each other again. Because Josie wasn't supposed to be real.

This middle grade thriller from Margaret Peterson Haddix delves into the power of privilege, the importance of true friendship, and the question of humanity and identity. Because when anyone could be a whatnot, what makes a person a real friend--or real at all?