Meet the Characters

Spencer

Ten-year-old Spencer is grumpy that his family moved at the end of the school year. He wants to spend the summer with his school friends and instead is in a new home stuck with his little brother and a strange nanny. He’s anxious about being the new kid in fifth grade. He’s shy and struggles with making new friends, especially close ones like he left behind.

Spencer likes all sports and plays several, but his favorite is hockey. He is kind, empathetic, and also a deep thinker.

Spiders terrify him … and he isn’t fond of the dark, either!

Spencer is intrigued by space. He loves learning about the moon and the solar system. Spencer often gets lost in his thoughts and gets teased that his head is in space!

Justin

Justin is seven years old and going into second grade. He’s outgoing, fun-loving, and enjoys making people laugh. He wants to play all the time and loves all sports, especially soccer and baseball.

Justin can talk to anyone and has no trouble making friends. He only likes school because he gets to be around his friends.

Justin also loves candy and just about anything with sugar. He also loves bacon, but it NOT a fan of vegetables.

Justin is messy and his shoes are always untied. He can get dirty within minutes of waking up.

Justin loves life … but doesn’t like to read. He struggles with reading and would prefer to do anything else (except maybe eat vegetables).

Ms. Lori

What is up with the new nanny?

I mean, she’s nice and nearly always in a good mood, but Spencer thinks she’s odd. She does strange things, like making oils and teas from weeds, collecting rocks, and carrying around weird items in her big bag. And she talks a lot about crystals and energy, too.

Justin likes her because she laughs at his silliness and plays fun games with him. He likes that she takes them to the park and swimming a lot, too.

Spencer doesn’t think she likes him … and he’s not sure he likes her either. Sometimes he thinks she can read his mind!

Spencer knows she has secrets. Why doesn’t anyone else see that? He’s keeping a journal of “Strange Things Lori Does” and plans to figure out what his new nanny is hiding.

Meet the "Real" Characters

The Brothers — Spencer and Justin (age 10 and 7)

Spencer

Then

Now

The “real” Spencer that influenced the book character is 25 years old. Like his book character, he loves hockey. After high school, he played for three years in the United States Premier Hockey League, and played in college.

Like the book character, Spencer more introverted and a deep thinker. He is also fascinated with space.

When he’s not on the ice, going to school, working, or at the gym, he loves his alone time. He has learned how to manage his focus issues and ADHD.

Spencer was a huge supporter of his mother writing a book series based on stories she told him when he was young.

Justin

Then

Now

The “real” Justin is 21 years old and a junior in college.

Like his character, he’s athletic and loves soccer. He’s played competitively since he was young, including in college.

Justin is outgoing and funny. He’s always quick with a joke. He’s an extrovert, has a lot of friends, and enjoys being around people. He plans to major in business in college and go into sales or marketing. He’ll run his own business someday.

Like his book character, Justin struggles with dyslexia and hates to read. (He also has ADHD.)

But reading issues haven’t held him back. He’s extremely quick and creative. He sees things from a different perspective and can easily come up with ideas and solutions to problems.

He PLANS to read the Under the Couch series … but prefers to wait for the audio version or maybe even the TV series!

Read the books in order, starting with Book 1!

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