Readers will enjoy this sequel from a plot perspective and will learn how to play-act a trial, though they may not engage...
This sequel to The Lemonade War (2007), picking up just a few days later, focuses on how the fourth graders take justice into their own hands after learning that the main suspect in the case of the missing lemonade-stand money now owns the latest in game-box technology.
Siblings Evan and Jessie (who skipped third grade because of her precocity) are sure Scott Spencer stole the $208 from Evan’s shorts and want revenge, especially as Scott’s new toy makes him the most popular kid in class, despite his personal shortcomings. Jessie’s solution is to orchestrate a full-blown trial by jury after school, while Evan prefers to challenge Scott in basketball. Neither channel proves satisfactory for the two protagonists (whose rational and emotional reactions are followed throughout the third-person narrative), though, ultimately, the matter is resolved. Set during the week of Yom Kippur, the story raises beginning questions of fairness, integrity, sin and atonement. Like John Grisham's Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer (2010), much of the book is taken up with introducing courtroom proceedings for a fourth-grade level of understanding. Chapter headings provide definitions (“due diligence,” “circumstantial evidence,” etc.) and explanation cards/documents drawn by Jessie are interspersed.
Readers will enjoy this sequel from a plot perspective and will learn how to play-act a trial, though they may not engage with the characters enough to care about how the justice actually pans out. (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: May 2, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-27967-1
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
With a charming cast of characters that readers will be eager to follow, this is a welcome addition to what should become a...
Following series opener Spirit Week Showdown (2016), the magnificent Mya Tibbs is back, and so is her competitive spirit!
The little black cowgirl’s plans to watch the Annie Oakley marathon with her mother are ruined when her former BFF challenges Mya to enter the Wall of Fame Game. The other fourth-graders have honorable reasons for entering the academic game, but Mya just wants to win the bet. This alone would have been a fine catalyst for a lesson in hard work and determination, but Allen layers on the drama for Mya. Mya’s pride leads her to also compete in the Bluebonnet Chili Cook-Off—and for her expectant mother’s attention. Mya quickly overextends herself and starts using shortcuts to finish faster, with hilarious results. As in the previous book, the author lets Mya and her friends make mistakes and express their feelings in a natural rather than pedantic way. Mya and her brother, Nugget, know their parents love them but still worry they’ll be ignored when the baby is born. Mya knows winning isn’t everything, but it’s still important to her, and she draws on all her creativity and some help from her peers to do her best.
With a charming cast of characters that readers will be eager to follow, this is a welcome addition to what should become a long-running middle-grade series. (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-234236-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2017
Those who have enjoyed Fenway’s necessarily narrow doggy point of view will no doubt savor another outing.
Fenway, Hattie’s exuberant Jack Russell terrier, is back for another (mis)adventure. This time the pup gets a bee sting on the paw.
Somewhat improbably, Fenway then is hauled to the veterinary clinic, where the vet, who reeks of cinnamon and animals’ fear, anesthetizes him. When Fenway awakens, he’s wearing the ever so annoying Cone of Doom, an oversized, rigid plastic collar that keeps him from licking his stung and very itchy paw. Meanwhile, Hattie is working hard on learning some magic tricks before her grandmother comes for a visit, a slight secondary storyline. After the two previous Fenway and Hattie tales, the trope is well-worn, if not a bit frayed. Fenway’s narrative point of view is very, very doggy, and that’s the running joke. In spite of veterinary attention, his paw becomes infected, and that necessitates yet another visit to the scary doctor and orders to “Soke-it,” which turns out to be almost worse than the dreaded bath, one of Fenway’s lurking background fears. Perhaps even more unfortunate is the fact that beloved Hattie (whom Fenway never describes) is the one who turns Fenway over to the vet and who keeps torturing him with paw soaks. Naturally, though, Fenway and Hattie sort things out and all ends well.
Those who have enjoyed Fenway’s necessarily narrow doggy point of view will no doubt savor another outing. (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-3783-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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