Nobody Beats Dave: The Trouble With Leo

The Story

Dave has a system. Sit up straight, answer first, be the one Mrs Williams looks at when the question is hard. It has worked for nine years.

Then Leo joins Bloomfield Academy and, without appearing to try, is good at all the same things. Worse, he is nice about it. Dave responds the way Dave responds — with a plan, then another plan, then a plan that goes badly wrong.

The Trouble with Leo is the first book in the Nobody Beats Dave series: a funny, fast, first-person chapter book about competitiveness, friendship and the uncomfortable discovery that being beaten is survivable.

For ages 9–12, and for any reader who has ever wanted very badly to be the best at something.

Okay, so before anything else, let me just tell you a few things about myself.

My name is Dave. Just Dave. Not David, not Davey, not “hey you in the blue shirt.” Dave.

I am nine years old, I go to Bloomfield Academy which is honestly the best school in the world in my opinion, and I have a lot of opinions so you can trust that one. I play keyboard, and before you say anything, yes I am very good at it. I also just started learning trumpet which is going well. Very well actually. My teacher Mr Banks says I need to “practise more consistently” but I think he says that to everyone.

I have two younger brothers. Danny who is six and thinks he knows everything, and Devin who is three and mostly just knocks things over. I love them both. Danny more on most days but don’t tell Devin. He can’t read yet anyway.

Anyway.

The reason I’m telling you all this is because what happened when Leo walked into our classroom on a Tuesday morning in November changed things. Not everything. But enough things that I figured someone should write it down.

That someone is me obviously.

But before Leo, let me tell you about the Tuesday morning before he arrived. Because honestly it was one of my better mornings and I think you should know that.

Mrs Williams was writing on the board with her back to us which meant everyone started doing whatever they wanted — pencils tapping, someone whispering, Jordan in the back row definitely throwing something small at someone’s ear.

I was sitting up straight.

I know, I know. But listen. Sitting up straight when the teacher has her back turned is actually a power move. Because when she turns around, everyone scrambles and I’m already there. Composed. Ready. Like I never wasn’t.

Mrs Williams turned around.

Everyone scrambled.

I was already there. Composed. Ready.

She smiled at the class, grabbed her marker and wrote three words on the board in her big round handwriting:

THE WATER CYCLE

My hand was up before the marker hit the tray.

The complete Nobody Beats Dave set

Three books, read in order — Dave meets his match, Dave learns what a friend is actually for, and Dave falls over in front of an entire concert hall. All three as EPUB and PDF, downloaded straight away.