Mighty Jack / Hatke, Ben

"Jack might be the only kid in the world who is dreading the summer. But he's got a good reason: summer is when his single mom takes a second job and leaves him at home to watch his autistic kid sister, Maddy. It's a lot of responsibility, and it's boring, too, because Maddy doesn't talk. Ever. But then, one day at the flea market, Maddy does talk--and tells Jack to trade their mom's car for a box of mysterious seeds. It's the best mistake Jack has ever made. What starts as a normal garden behind the house quickly grows up into a wild, magical jungle with tiny onion babies running amok, huge, pink pumpkins that bite, and, on one moonlit night that changes everything...a dragon."--Back cover.

In this modern retelling of "Jack and the Beanstalk," young Jack's boring summer of babysitting becomes exciting after his normally mute autistic kid sister, Maddy, advises him to trade his mother's car for a box of mysterious seeds.

"Jack might be the only kid in the world who is dreading the summer. But he's got a good reason: summer is when his single mom takes a second job and leaves him at home to watch his autistic kid sister, Maddy. It's a lot of responsibility, and it's boring, too, because Maddy doesn't talk. Ever. But then, one day at the flea market, Maddy does talk--and tells Jack to trade their mom's car for a box of mysterious seeds. It's the best mistake Jack has ever made. What starts as a normal garden behind the house quickly grows up into a wild, magical jungle with tiny onion babies running amok, huge, pink pumpkins that bite, and, on one moonlit night that changes everything...a dragon."--Back cover.

While Jack is babysitting his autistic younger sister Maddy, she talks for the very first time--and tells Jack to trade their mom's car for a bag of mysterious seeds. Soon, Jack and Maddy's backyard grows into a wild, magical jungle, and when the two notice a dragon creeping in the trees, they know everything's about to change.