THE BAD LUCK CHAIR
by Sue Wilkowski & illustrated by C.B. Decker
Fourth-grader Addison Darby fights some powerfully negative mojo in order to overcome the curse of a chair. Every kid at Brookside Elementary is terrified of the Bad Luck Chair, which has the power to curse anyone whose tush has to sit in it. From Bart Levit, who cursed it originally, to Olivia Brown, who lost her ability to dance and on to Jon, who lost his lucky powers, children at the school live in terror of The Chair. The notably unscary premise is not enough to carry this short novel to its ending. Addy and Sam, sole members of the Word Nerds, do face their challenges with energy and make new friends as they try to solve the curse-reversing riddle, but the plot is so slow-moving that it’s hard to care. Odd, dated word choices like “doody” and “wowville” serve to further distract the reader. When Addy magically figures out the clues left by a strangely absent Jon and convinces her classmates to partake in a truly unbelievable ritual to reverse the curse, readers will wonder what the fuss was about. (Fiction. 8-11)