Claim to Fame

Gr 2–4—The busy lives of Abby, her friends, family, and neighbors in the idyllic suburban community of Evergreen are the focus of these early chapter books. In Fame, Abby's friend Sydney is mortified when the boys play a trick on her, turning her blond hair pink by sprinkling strawberry Kool-Aid on her while she's at the pool. In the meantime, Abby's nervousness over learning her lines for a play inspires her to change the show into a very successful puppet production. In Golden Key, Abby discovers a beautiful key buried in her backyard, and after doing some research at the library, befriends its original owner, Abigail Flynn, a 100-year-old nursing-home resident. In Lunch, Abby, Sydney, and neighborhood boys Zachary and Dakota team up for a medieval project at school, creating knight and princess costumes with the help of their glitter-addicted librarian. Generously sized font, short chapters, and a good number of gray-scale digital cartoon illustrations make these fast and fun reads. Each book includes activity suggestions to extend some of the ideas presented in the story.—Madigan McGillicuddy, Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, Atlanta, GA