A heartwarming middle-grade novel about friendship, family, and dogs.

Keath and his best friend Lynda are in the fourth grade. Some kids call Lynda "Zebra," because her mother's black and her father's white. And Keath is Whitey. He's vanilla in a chocolate school where Toothpick, a bully, has it in for him.

Lynda and Keath both love dogs. When Keath grows up, he wants to be a golden retriever. Dogs don't care about what color is the right one. Dogs don't hate anybody. Their favorite dog is Leftovers, Lynda's three-legged beagle. When he got hurt, his first owners gave up on him, but Lynda and Keath turn him into a winner, a pooch that shows Keath that sometimes it's good to stand out, to be special, and that even when you look different, there are ways to fit in.