Sam the Man is back, and he needs a NEW plan. Sam has already solved a chicken problem, but this time, he's having rutabaga issues. Rutabaga? Yes, Rutabaga. You see, Sam thought he was quite clever, missing school while his classmates were picking out their vegetable for a two-week science project. But, instead of being able to skip the project, he gets stuck with the vegetable that no one else wanted: the rutabaga!

What even is this thing? It's dirty and kinda purple, and it does not look like something Sam would ever eat. Sam the Man is not a vegetable man to begin with, and he doesn't think he'll ever be a rutabaga man. But after drawing a little face on it, he starts to grow fond of the curious veg. Then it dawns on him that vegetables don't last forever...so he changes his plan: he has to keep this rutabaga happy--and rot-free--for as long as he can. To do that, he'll have to make the best dirt possible. All he needs is a little help from nature, and, of course, his chickens!

This is volume 2 in Sam the Man .

This book has been graded for interest at 6-9 years.

There are 144 pages in this book. This book was published 2018 by Simon & Schuster .

Frances O Roark Dowell is the editor and co-founder of Dream/Girl, an arts magazine for girls and has been Poet in Residence at Duke University. She has had dozens of poems published in literary journals, and is the author of two previous children's novels, Dovey Coe and Where I'd Like to Be. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two sons. Amy June Bates has illustrated books including the Sam the Man series, Sweet Dreams and That's What I'd Do , both by singer-songwriter Jewel; and Waiting for the Magic by Patricia MacLachlan. She lives in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, with her husband and three children.