We Could Be Heroes

Hank and Maisie get into a fistfight. She provokes him, he attacks her, they punch each other and wrestle until a teacher pulls them apart. Hank's teacher reads a story about a boy fleeing Nazis during World War II. Hank is so upset by it that he tries to burn the book in the school bathroom, causing a school emergency. Hank and a dog are injured by a bull.

Dogs have mated, resulting in puppies. One dog goes to the vet to get "fixed."

"Butt," "meatballs" (as in, "I thought you had the meatballs to ...").

Parents need to know that Margaret Finnegan's We Could Be Heroes is narrated by a fourth grader named Hank, who has autism. Hank can behave in impulsive ways, such as burning a book in the school bathroom because it bothers him when the teacher reads it. He has difficulty reading people, like his teacher, Ms. Vera, whom his mother calls "a piece of work." Hank's used to being left out by other kids, which is why he's surprised that new girl Maisie begins paying attention to him. She tricks him into doing things for her, asks him to lie to his parents, teachers, and the police, which he does. When he doesn't get his way, he makes his parents "pay" by ignoring them. Maisie calls people names, such as "the old liver spot" and "the evil daughter," characterizing people in ways that might not be accurate. Animals and people in the story have epileptic seizures, which Hank doesn't know how to cope with. The book that's being read in class emphasizes the ruthlessness that Nazis had toward people who were different, causing Hank and Maisie to wonder whether they would have survived under Nazi rule.