Penpal

The novel flashes back to the narrator’s first day of kindergarten. He accidentally gets his arm cast wet while showering. Afterward, his arm has a rotting smell, and his cast starts to disintegrate. He increasingly worries that his ruined arm cast will discourage other kids from befriending him. He’s so nervous that he disrupts the activity of the group he’s placed into, earning his new classmates’ ire.

At lunch, a kid sits across from the narrator and compliments his lunchbox. The narrator initially thinks the kid is making fun of him but then realizes the other kid has the same lunchbox. They bond over their shared love of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The narrator invites his new friend to sign his cast. He writes his name: Josh.

Josh and the narrator quickly become best friends in and out of school. The two boys take on each other’s habits and nearly become nearly indistinguishable from one another. Only their hair differs: Josh has straight blonde hair, while the narrator has curly brown hair. The narrator finds it difficult to imagine life without Josh. When the narrator and his mother move after first grade, he worries that the distance will threaten his friendship with Josh.