Bernice Buttman, Model Citizen

Eleven-year-old Bernice Buttman is the self-described biggest bully at Oak Grove Elementary School in Kansas City. She sits alone on the monkey bars at recess, feared and avoided by every student. Bernice lives with her mother (Momma), Momma's boyfriend Lloyd, and her four older brothers in a run-down trailer at the Lone Star Trailer Park. The family is loud, rough, and poor. Momma dreams of reality TV fame, and none of the siblings know their fathers.

Bernice fixates on Oliver Stratts, a clean-cut classmate she wants as a friend, but when she overhears him mocking her family, she twists his arm and forces his face near dog excrement until he agrees to be her "friend." She follows Oliver to Sunday school, where watching a donation basket fill with cash sparks an idea: Bernice needs roughly $2,500 to attend Hollywood Hills Stunt Camp in California, her dream of escape. At the public library, her favorite place, she creates a fraudulent crowdfunding page for an imaginary dog named Farkle, fabricating a story about surgery costs. The librarian, Ms. Knightley, is the closest thing Bernice has to a real friend and always encourages her, though she knows nothing about the scam.

The fundraiser gains traction, but Oliver spots the page over Bernice's shoulder at the library. Soon a neighbor tells Momma about "poor sick Farkle," and Momma discovers the scheme. She threatens to report Bernice for running a fake charity, a felony, and confiscates all $1,375 in donations plus Bernice's original savings.

Momma then announces that she and Lloyd are moving to Los Angeles for acting auditions. Bernice's brothers will stay in the trailer, but Bernice is too young to be unsupervised and must live with Aunt Josephine, a nun she barely remembers. Bernice confides in Ms. Knightley, who reframes the move as a fresh start and encourages Bernice to let new people help her discover who she is. Ms. Knightley reads aloud from Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends: "Anything can happen, child. Anything can be" (42).

Her brother Chucknorris drives Bernice several hours to Halfway, Missouri. Aunt Josephine, also known as Sister Mary Margaret, greets her with a crushing hug and calls her pretty, a reaction Bernice has never received. Bernice meets the other two nuns: Sister Marie Francis, a practical, outdoorsy woman, and Sister Angela-Clarence, an elderly nun whose mind has deteriorated so that she speaks only in children's book quotes. The nuns show Bernice her own room, the first private space she has ever had, furnished with a bed, desk, and a donated computer with internet access.

Bernice resolves to become a "New and Improved Bernice." At Halfway Primary School, her teacher Mr. Newton seats her in the back after reading her permanent file. Imogene Franklin, the mayor's polished, blond daughter, volunteers to be Bernice's "ambassador" but makes condescending remarks about Bernice's background. Imogene craves the annual Principal's Citizenship Award, a $1,000 prize and a trip to meet the governor. When Principal Jenkins passes their lunch table, Imogene performatively invites Bernice to her birthday party, and Bernice is excited by her first-ever invitation.

At the lavish party, Bernice brings a homemade piñata filled with cheese balls, a Buttman family tradition. She meets Francie, a warm, redheaded classmate who giggles at Bernice's jokes. When Bernice smashes the piñata, cheese balls explode over the four-tiered birthday cake. Imogene furiously declares that nobody wants Bernice in Halfway, and Bernice walks home deflated. Back at the abbey, Sister Marie Francis offers horseback riding lessons in exchange for help grooming the horses, and Bernice begins a genuine friendship with Francie over shared snacks at the park.

Old habits persist. When Mr. Newton implies Bernice is not applying herself, she swaps his hand sanitizer with clear glue. For the town's Yippie Pie Yay Festival, she bakes a peach pie laced with laxative powder. Imogene blackmails Bernice with a photo of the glue prank, forcing her to hand-write over 200 thank-you cards, which makes her late to the festival. Arriving in a rush, Bernice trips and the pie lands on Imogene's head. Mayor Franklin accuses Bernice of attacking his daughter, but Aunt Josephine firmly defends her. Bernice privately realizes that Imogene's blackmail kept anyone from eating the laxative pie, a lucky outcome.

Bernice discovers the abbey's offering basket full of cash and is tempted to steal it, but a note from Sister Angela-Clarence quoting Little Women stops her. Aunt Josephine reveals the abbey needs $2,500 for repairs by April 15 or the town will condemn the building. After Bernice plants a fake congratulatory letter on Imogene's desk and Imogene retaliates by microwaving Mr. Newton's pencil and framing Bernice, Principal Jenkins assigns both girls community service at the Halfway Paradise Retirement Village. Bernice proposes teaching computer skills to the elderly residents and takes charge while Imogene hides behind her. Helping a resident view photos of a school fundraiser sparks Bernice's big idea: organizing "Action Movie Night" at St. Drogo's to save the abbey.

Sister Marie Francis reveals her past as a rodeo stunt rider and begins teaching Bernice trick riding. Bernice achieves a breakthrough when she rides Hoof Hearted, the palomino, backward in the saddle. In January, Momma makes a surprise visit, announcing California failed and she wants Bernice home. Bernice negotiates to stay through Action Movie Night in April. Over the winter, Bernice deepens her connections: She writes a class essay on The Hobbit about wishing for a ring that would make her kind rather than invisible, earning genuine praise from Mr. Newton. She emails Oliver to apologize for bullying him, but Oliver replies that he does not forgive her.

On the first Saturday in April, Action Movie Night arrives with 15 acts and Bernice's stunt riding as the grand finale. Her entire family and Ms. Knightley have come from Kansas City. When Imogene's dance music goes missing, Bernice burns a replacement CD, earning a rare thank-you. Francie becomes hurt after hearing Bernice introduce Ms. Knightley as "the only friend I've ever had" (199) and storms off. During the show, Bernice notices Momma and Ms. Knightley have both disappeared. The nuns help Bernice search the church and find Momma in the locked sanctuary, wrestling the cash box of ticket money away from Ms. Knightley, who caught Momma trying to steal it. Aunt Josephine takes the cash box, and Bernice tells Momma she wants to stay in Halfway.

Before her performance, Bernice finds Francie in the barn and clarifies that Ms. Knightley is an adult friend, not a best friend; Francie holds that title. They reconcile, and Francie gives Bernice cowgirl boots for good luck. In the arena, Bernice performs her routine and for the first time stands up on the saddle at a gallop. Hoof Hearted bucks and tosses her, but the crowd erupts in applause.

At a potluck the following Sunday, Aunt Josephine announces that Action Movie Night raised more than enough to save St. Drogo's. The congregation offers to send Bernice to the summer camp of her choice. Bernice considers Hollywood Hills Stunt Camp but realizes that everything she wanted, belonging, friendship, and purpose, she has already found in Halfway. She declines camp and asks to stay. Francie wins the Principal's Citizenship Award, and Bernice notices that even Imogene has continued volunteering at the retirement home on her own. As the congregation welcomes her, Bernice reflects that people look better when they show you kindness, and she considers that even Bernice Buttman might be beautiful if given the chance to prove it.