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Roohi and Nate Are Not on the Same Page: A Novel
Not yet published
Expected 3 Mar 26From award-winning author-illustrators Supriya Kelkar and Jarrett Lerner comes an illustrated middle-grade novel about a pair of unlikely friends determined to save the library that brought them together
Roohi and Nate are not friends. Their paths have crossed a handful of times over the years—and the outcome has never been good. Nate thinks Roohi is a snobby know-it-all, and Roohi thinks Nate is nothing but a slacker.
But that begins to change when they both somewhat reluctantly join a reading club that meets during lunch at their school library. The Lunch Bunch allows Roohi to open up about feeling disconnected from her friends on the track team after a broken toe sidelined her for the season. Nate, who has always struggled in school, shares how tired he is of constantly being compared to his genius older brother. Despite their differences, and maybe because of them, Roohi and Nate form a friendship unlike any other they’ve ever had, with each other and with the other kids in the club.
As the Lunch Bunch gets stronger, though, things seem to be falling apart at the library. When the kids learn that their beloved librarian, Mrs. Sharp’s, job may be in danger due to budget cuts, they band together to find a solution . . . which proves to be easier said than done. Can Roohi and Nate’s new friendship survive outside of the Lunch Bunch in order to save the place that brought them together?
Roohi and Nate are not friends. Their paths have crossed a handful of times over the years—and the outcome has never been good. Nate thinks Roohi is a snobby know-it-all, and Roohi thinks Nate is nothing but a slacker.
But that begins to change when they both somewhat reluctantly join a reading club that meets during lunch at their school library. The Lunch Bunch allows Roohi to open up about feeling disconnected from her friends on the track team after a broken toe sidelined her for the season. Nate, who has always struggled in school, shares how tired he is of constantly being compared to his genius older brother. Despite their differences, and maybe because of them, Roohi and Nate form a friendship unlike any other they’ve ever had, with each other and with the other kids in the club.
As the Lunch Bunch gets stronger, though, things seem to be falling apart at the library. When the kids learn that their beloved librarian, Mrs. Sharp’s, job may be in danger due to budget cuts, they band together to find a solution . . . which proves to be easier said than done. Can Roohi and Nate’s new friendship survive outside of the Lunch Bunch in order to save the place that brought them together?
304 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication March 3, 2026
1 person is currently reading
24 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 1, 2025
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Roohi is an overachiever; she's is involved in cross country team, science olympiad, Robotics Team, and the school newspaper. She has a friend group from each activity, but is struggling with her relationship with herr cross country friends after she broke her toe and had to stop running. She has a lot to deal with at home, mainly watching her three younger brothers while her father works from home and her mother is a surgeon at a local hospital. The one place she finds comforting is the library, where she eats lunch every day to avoid her friends and to talk books with the cool, rock band t shirt wearing Mrs. Sharp. She and Nate aren't friends; he's a slacker skater boy whom she feels has been rude to her, so she's rude back. Nate's parents seem to favor his older brother, Noah, "the smart one" who is off at college. His best friend is Z (or Zach), but lately the two haven't been vibing. When Nathan sees a lunchtime book club starting, he wants to join, even though his father makes snide comments that it's :"more Noah's thing" and he has to lie to Z about where he is going. Roohi is NT excited about the club, because it means she has to share her space with Miles, who loves an ogre based book series, Dao, who is on the girls' basketball team, and Troy. When everyone votes to read a graphic novel that Roohi thinks is infinitely inferior to the fantasy novels SHE would like to read, she is even angrier. It doesn't help that another cross country runner, Bianca, seems to have taken her place in her cross country friend group. As discussions about the book start, the participants bring up a lot of personal struggles and ask for help to work through them, which was part of Mrs. Sharp's plan for the group. While she's not super pleased to have to deal with Nate, the two bond briefly over their shared love of drawing. When it is revealed that the school district is short on money and Mrs. Sharp may have to work at other libraries if librarian positions are reduced, the lunch bunch tries to find ways to save her full time position. They think about bake sales (figuring the $635 would save at least one librarian's job!), petitions, and a talent show at which the group would speak passionately about the importance of librarians. None of this is easy, and Roohi and Nate don't always see eye to eye about anything. The two eventually reconcile, but librarian positions are still cut. With Mrs. Sharp only coming to their school two mornings a month, Roohi, Nate, and the other lunch bunch group have to find their way forward.
Strengths: There are any number of middle grade novels about book bans, but fewer about the very real problem of librarian positions being cut because of funding shortfalls. Since I could have lost my job had my district's ballot initiative failed, this hit very close to home. The cuts are realistically portrayed as well, and I love the impassioned lists of all of the good that full time school librarians do. The friend drama was well portrayed, and I felt particularly bad for Roohi's broken toe! Been there, worn the boot! Nate and Roohi are definitely different types of students, but they are very realistically portrayed; many cross country runners want to be involved in everything, as Roohi is, and are frequently at odds with students who, like Nate, are not as fond of academics. I loved that they connected over their shared love of drawing, and tried to work together to save the library. The addition of drawings to the story will add some appeal to this title, for fans of those graphic novels of which Roohi is not fond!
Weaknesses: Roohi's situation is exactly why I don't allow students to spend more than a lunch or two in the library before I insist they talk to a school counselor to get proper help with their problems. Roohi clearly needed a lot more help that Mrs. Sharp could provide.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed Varnes' Property of the Rebel Librarian, Magoon, Smith, and Murakami's The Vice Principal Problem, or Janet and Jake Tashjian's Einstein the Class Hamster Saves the Library.
Roohi is an overachiever; she's is involved in cross country team, science olympiad, Robotics Team, and the school newspaper. She has a friend group from each activity, but is struggling with her relationship with herr cross country friends after she broke her toe and had to stop running. She has a lot to deal with at home, mainly watching her three younger brothers while her father works from home and her mother is a surgeon at a local hospital. The one place she finds comforting is the library, where she eats lunch every day to avoid her friends and to talk books with the cool, rock band t shirt wearing Mrs. Sharp. She and Nate aren't friends; he's a slacker skater boy whom she feels has been rude to her, so she's rude back. Nate's parents seem to favor his older brother, Noah, "the smart one" who is off at college. His best friend is Z (or Zach), but lately the two haven't been vibing. When Nathan sees a lunchtime book club starting, he wants to join, even though his father makes snide comments that it's :"more Noah's thing" and he has to lie to Z about where he is going. Roohi is NT excited about the club, because it means she has to share her space with Miles, who loves an ogre based book series, Dao, who is on the girls' basketball team, and Troy. When everyone votes to read a graphic novel that Roohi thinks is infinitely inferior to the fantasy novels SHE would like to read, she is even angrier. It doesn't help that another cross country runner, Bianca, seems to have taken her place in her cross country friend group. As discussions about the book start, the participants bring up a lot of personal struggles and ask for help to work through them, which was part of Mrs. Sharp's plan for the group. While she's not super pleased to have to deal with Nate, the two bond briefly over their shared love of drawing. When it is revealed that the school district is short on money and Mrs. Sharp may have to work at other libraries if librarian positions are reduced, the lunch bunch tries to find ways to save her full time position. They think about bake sales (figuring the $635 would save at least one librarian's job!), petitions, and a talent show at which the group would speak passionately about the importance of librarians. None of this is easy, and Roohi and Nate don't always see eye to eye about anything. The two eventually reconcile, but librarian positions are still cut. With Mrs. Sharp only coming to their school two mornings a month, Roohi, Nate, and the other lunch bunch group have to find their way forward.
Strengths: There are any number of middle grade novels about book bans, but fewer about the very real problem of librarian positions being cut because of funding shortfalls. Since I could have lost my job had my district's ballot initiative failed, this hit very close to home. The cuts are realistically portrayed as well, and I love the impassioned lists of all of the good that full time school librarians do. The friend drama was well portrayed, and I felt particularly bad for Roohi's broken toe! Been there, worn the boot! Nate and Roohi are definitely different types of students, but they are very realistically portrayed; many cross country runners want to be involved in everything, as Roohi is, and are frequently at odds with students who, like Nate, are not as fond of academics. I loved that they connected over their shared love of drawing, and tried to work together to save the library. The addition of drawings to the story will add some appeal to this title, for fans of those graphic novels of which Roohi is not fond!
Weaknesses: Roohi's situation is exactly why I don't allow students to spend more than a lunch or two in the library before I insist they talk to a school counselor to get proper help with their problems. Roohi clearly needed a lot more help that Mrs. Sharp could provide.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed Varnes' Property of the Rebel Librarian, Magoon, Smith, and Murakami's The Vice Principal Problem, or Janet and Jake Tashjian's Einstein the Class Hamster Saves the Library.
August 19, 2025
Thank you for reading ROOHI AND NATE ARE NOT ON THE SAME PAGE! Creating this book with the amazing Jarrett Lerner was a dream come true. I hope this book inspires readers to read more books and use their voices to change the world.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews