Bus Stop Buddies: The Showdown is a BookFest 2024 winner in three categories: Children's Fiction - Diversity & Multicultural (1st Place) Audiobook - Artistic & Technical Overall Presentation (2nd Place) Children's Fiction - Social Themes (Honorable Mention) Julius Greenfield is the new kid at school. Not only did his family move to a new state over the summer, but they enrolled him in public school. Montessori school was all he ever knew, so starting at a big public school was scary. Problems begin for Julius when Jamie Winston, the school bully, picks on Julius for being a small fifth grader. Every day at school, something is new, from name-calling to physical attacks. To make matters worse, Julius and Jamie are on the same team to perform in the school talent show. Can they learn to accept their differences to win the talent competition, or will their dislike for one another ruin their fifth-grade experience and get them into big trouble? Bus Stop Buddies is a middle-grade fiction about life lessons such as friendship, acceptance, and inclusion. The cast of characters include: * Jules Greenfield, an Amerasian fifth grader who must find his footing in a new environment * Jamie Winston, the bully who comes from a rich family and is raised by an au pair * Stacey Barringer, a nonbinary, gender-fluid child who is trying to find their way toward acceptance * Lily Jaxon, a small adoptee from China with a big personality * Taylor Bridges, a blind teenager who sees more than people give him credit for * Forest Jonathan, a third grader from the Choctaw Nation, built like a tree but gentle and shy * Rowan Barr, a third grader who loves the color purple and dinosaurs and is a walking encyclopedia * Magdalena Velázquez, the bus driver who loves to teach the children Spanish through songs * Spencer Nash, the fifth grader who is obsessed with his hair and uses humor to avoid trouble * Rosie, the pocket-size American bully who loves her ball and thinks she's one of the kids