SOLVED. Children’s book probably from 90s, modern retelling of Lassie set in rural US. [s]

[E222]

I read this book in the early 2000s in the UK, but it was likely published in at least the 90s. I think it was American because it mentioned terms like Pop Tarts.

It was a modernised retelling of Lassie by Eric Knight. The main character was possibly called Matt and he (reluctantly) moved with his family to a farm in the countryside. He was from a city and struggled to fit in with the other teenagers in the community- they thought he was weird because he had an earring, and he got into a fight with two of the boys. He met a girl and they swapped earrings and presumably started a relationship. There was also a rope swing mentioned which allowed Matt to perform triple backflips into the water and impress more of the girls.

There was a Lassie dog in the story which somehow belonged to Matt, and helped save his family’s farm at the end of the book from an evil neighbour. At one point the dog was trapped by the neighbour but managed to jump the fence, and in another scene she was reunited with Matt outside his school.

[bookel]

Check recommendations here https://www.librarything.com/work/252826

[bookel]

Now reading the body of your query, it's obvious. Oh, it's the book of the 1994 movie Lassie: Best Friends are Forever. The novelisation had that name and also simply Lassie, depending on which country you were in. Author Sheila Black. Lassie
There are two cover images. https://www.librarything.com/work/188...
Free to borrow: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL64785...

[E222]

That’s it- thank you so much!!