While readers can celebrate Mallory’s widening outlook on the world, they may yearn for a little less vanilla-flavored syrup
After the disappointment of taking on too much for Halloween, Mallory decides she needs to be more philanthropic for the next holiday in this 28th and final tale.
Planning to spend part of Halloween evening at a party and part trick-or-treating fails completely, leaving very earnest fifth-grader Mallory frustrated. She needs to do better for Thanksgiving. With guidance from her mom, Mallory decides a food-drive competition among the grades at her school would be perfect. Her friend Joey offers to help when his stepsister, Mary Ann, turns Mallory down. That gives Mallory room to smugly reflect on the girls’ gradual separation and Mary Ann’s unfortunate self-focus. With the school administration agreeing to the plan, Mallory and Joey launch their drive but immediately run into unexpected (but very believable) issues. As cans accumulate and then get mixed up, it becomes impossible to figure out which grade won the prize of a homework-free week. Some classmates blame Joey and Mallory—selfishly missing completely the good they’ve done. Nearly all the classmates depicted in Kalis’ simple, boldly outlined illustrations are white like Mallory, Joey, and Mary Ann, but their teacher is black, and the food-bank representative is Asian. This mild, predictable, ever-so-sincere tale, the last in the long-running series, features a feel-good conclusion with a heavy-handed message.
While readers can celebrate Mallory’s widening outlook on the world, they may yearn for a little less vanilla-flavored syrup . (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4677-5032-5
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Darby Creek
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading.
When Franklin School principal Mr. Boone announces a pet-show fundraiser, white third-grader Cody—whose lack of skill and interest in academics is matched by keen enthusiasm for and knowledge of animals—discovers his time to shine.
As with other books in this series, the children and adults are believable and well-rounded. Even the dialogue is natural—no small feat for a text easily accessible to intermediate readers. Character growth occurs, organically and believably. Students occasionally, humorously, show annoyance with teachers: “He made mad squinty eyes at Mrs. Molina, which fortunately she didn’t see.” Readers will be kept entertained by Cody’s various problems and the eventual solutions. His problems include needing to raise $10 to enter one of his nine pets in the show (he really wants to enter all of them), his troublesome dog Angus—“a dog who ate homework—actually, who ate everything and then threw up afterward”—struggles with homework, and grappling with his best friend’s apparently uncaring behavior toward a squirrel. Serious values and issues are explored with a light touch. The cheery pencil illustrations show the school’s racially diverse population as well as the memorable image of Mr. Boone wearing an elephant costume. A minor oddity: why does a child so immersed in animal facts call his male chicken a rooster but his female chickens chickens?
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30223-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Lighthearted spook with a heaping side of silliness—and hair.
Fifth graders get into a hairy situation.
After an unnamed narrator’s full-page warning, readers dive right into a Wolver Hollow classroom. Mr. Noffler recounts the town legend about how, every Oct. 19, residents don fake mustaches and lock their doors. As the story goes, the late Bockius Beauregard was vaporized in an “unfortunate black powder incident,” but, somehow, his “magnificent mustache” survived to haunt the town. Once a year, the spectral ’stache searches for an exposed upper lip to rest upon. Is it real or superstition? Students Parker and Lucas—sole members of the Midnight Owl Detective Agency—decide to take the case and solve the mustache mystery. When they find that the book of legends they need for their research has been checked out from the library, they recruit the borrower: goth classmate Samantha von Oppelstein. Will the three of them be enough to take on the mustache and resolve its ghostly, unfinished business? Whether through ridiculous plot points or over-the-top descriptions, the comedy keeps coming in this first title in McGee’s new Night Frights series. A generous font and spacing make this quick-paced, 13-chapter story appealing to newly confident readers. Skaffa’s grayscale cartoon spot (and occasional full-page) illustrations help set the tone and accentuate the action. Though neither race or skin color is described in the text, images show Lucas and Samantha as light-skinned and Parker as dark-skinned.
Lighthearted spook with a heaping side of silliness—and hair. (maps) (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-8089-6
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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