Judy Moody: Around the World in 8½ Days

In this episode (Candlewick, 2010) of the series by Megan McDonald, Judy meets a new girl who is a lot like her. Amy Namey invites Judy Moody to join the exclusive “My-Name-Is-a-Poem Club,” and soon Judy must learn to juggle old and new friends. Judy is supposed to be working on an Around-the-World class project tracking the path of Nelly Bly’s historic journey with Rocky and Frank, and the boys begin to feel alienated. Judy’s brother, Stink, serves as go-between in a she-said, he-said sequence that is spot-on and rendered with genuine humor and angst by narrator Barbara Rosenblat whose timing and skill allow her to capture the nuances of third graders. Their teacher’s attempt to help Judy and her team mend their rift by extending the deadline for the project leads to a satisfactory conclusion. Kids will find themselves rooting for Judy and learning a bit of history at the same time.–Janet Thompson, Chicago Public Library, IL