ALL MIXED UP!

A bland tale with an overeager message kicks off this new series from a celebrity husband-and-wife duo. In the middle of her fourth-grade year, Amy Hodges eagerly transitions from homeschooling to regular school. Smarmy kids of various races mock her flowered dress, tape a “Stupid new girl” sign to her back and insult her for being interracial. A band of nicer classmates (also multiracial) takes her in. They nickname her “Amy Hodgepodge,” which supposedly shows warm acceptance of her Japanese, Korean, black and white ancestry but actually focuses a glaring narrative spotlight on an identity that should be normalized. For a talent show, the kids breezily write song lyrics and choreograph a dance; Amy conquers stage fright to sing the lead role. Jeong’s sketches feature large, manga-styled eyes. Amy’s closing realization that her new friends are “all different colors [but] all one of a kind” typifies the syrupy quality of this well-meaning but clichéd effort. (Fiction. 6-8)