Books Kids Like's Reviews > Rachel Spinelli Punched Me in the Face

Zachary Beatrice’s mother leaves to catch some elusive dream of success. Left to pick up the pieces, his father accepts a police officer job in Connecticut. So, Zachary and his dad move from Colorado to a new life in the east. They’ve been in their new home for five minutes when Rachel Spinelli rings their bell. In another five minutes, they learn about Rachel’s brother Teddy- a developmentally delayed seventeen year-old, six-and-a-half feet tall trumpet virtuoso. Rachel, also, tells them that her mother resides in a coffee pot on a shelf in the family diner. (She died when Rachel was born.) As Zachary starts school, he learns one thing about Rachel. She spends more time in detention than she does in class because anyone who makes a negative comment about Teddy feels the force of Rachel’s fists. The bond between Zachary, Rachel, and Teddy strengthens during the summer as they help restore the Sarah Jean Tilley Memorial Park. Even after Rachel’s fist connects with Zachary’s face over a squirrel and its nest, the threesome remain fast friends.
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