NEW! October 2016 / Knopf Books for Young Readers / 10 and up

NEW! October 2016 / Knopf Books for Young Readers / 10 and up

The Capybara Conspiracy

Seventh-grade playwright Olive Henry is frustrated by her sports-obsessed middle school. While the principal drones on and on during morning announcements about the sports teams’ victories, all non-athletic club meetings are relegated to the school basement, never to be mentioned on the loudspeaker. So Olive and her best friend, Reynaldo, hatch a plan to kidnap the school’s capybara mascot, planning to return it, heroically, just in time for the school’s pep rally and claim a reward: permission for their drama club to practice in the auditorium. And, hopefully, some overdue respect for the school’s non-athletes. But when an animal-rights student activist and an undercover athlete with murky motivations join in the conspiracy, their plans—along with Cappy the capybara—veer wildly out of Olive’s control. Written in the form of a play, this book practically begs to be read aloud or staged (and provides extensive back matter to support those who decide to go for it!).

The Newport Children's Theater has created two abridged adaptations of THE CAPYBARA CONSPIRACY for educational purposes. One runs 35 minutes and the other is under 25 minutes. Please contact Erica through the Contact page if you are interested in using one of these - free of charge! - with your students.

"Humorous and cleverly constructed, this deserves a 'hoof five.’” (Kirkus)

 

The Capybara Conspiracy is a new middle grade novel that is also a play. Written by Erica S. Perl and available from Knopf Books for Young Readers, it focuses on four students at a sports-obsessed Maryland middle school and their ill-conceived plan to kidnap their mascot, a capybara named Cappy (aka the world's largest rodent), to gain attention and acclaim.