JUDY MOODY AND THE BAD LUCK CHARM

Judy Moody has an amazing run of good luck, perhaps due to the wonderful lucky coin she’s started carrying.

Imagine winning prize after prize from The Claw—a fishing-for-stuffed-animals arcade game. That’s what happens to Judy with her new lucky penny. The good fortune doesn’t stop there, however. She bowls a prizewinning game at a birthday party, and the tough word she's asked to spell in front of her third-grade class just happens to be posted on the bulletin board. Good luck can’t last forever though; she drops her lucky penny in the toilet and then misspells the very first word during the class spelling bee. She's then asked to accompany classmate and bee winner Jessica to Washington, D.C., to babysit a pet piglet—that she accidentally almost loses. Character development is minimal but, Holy Baloney! McDonald’s lively style still has lots of young-reader appeal, even after all these years and outings. Quirky black-and-white illustrations on almost every page accompany the large-font and good-humored text. Nothing truly compelling happens, but all of Judy’s adventures are amusing and in sync with a third-grader's experience. The brisk pace and familiar situations are likely to keep young readers and listeners engaged.

Another enjoyable outing with predictable Judy, just like a pleasant visit with an old friend. (Fiction. 6-9)