Book excerpt: Ten-year-old Ernest lives a flat, colorless life. Each day is the same: he comes home right after school, eats a healthy snack, and does his homework. Enter Victoria, the new girl in class. Victoria instantly falls in love with Ernest, and bulldozes her way into his life. Much to Ernest's surprise, he likes it. Bit by bit, color seeps into Ernest's humdrum existence--and he begins to realize that life can hold an endless variety of love, friendship, adventure, and change."Quirky characters, heightening suspense, and hilarious situations are deftly combined in this tender novel, which examines a few of the large and small ways people affect one another." --Booklist, starred review