Marlene, Marlene, Queen of Mean

PreS-Gr 2—In this debut into the world of children's picture books, actress and comedian Lynch takes on school bullying. Marlene is intimidating. With her menacing stares, cruel pranks, and habit of pinching and kicking, she has become "queen of the scene." All the kids are afraid of her, until one day, astute Big Freddy asks, "Why?" He tells the playground of kids, "We cringe and we cower and give her our power because we all think that she's in charge!" When he tells Marlene that she is "just a bully," it is all that is needed to break her meanness into "123 pieces." When readers meet a reformed Marlene, she is learning to make friends, and though she's not intimidating anymore, she is still true to her nature and prone to the occasional prank. Tusa's signature watercolor pastel hues and cartoonlike pencil outlines offer a comic lightness and softness to a serious subject. Though the intended audience might not be familiar with Lynch's role as the bully Sue Sylvester on the television show Glee, this is an above-average celebrity picture book whose rhythm and rhyme scheme make for a fantastic read-aloud. It can also serve to open a discussion about bullying. Though similar in message, plot, and rhyme to Alexis O'Neill's The Recess Queen (Scholastic, 2002), libraries and classrooms cannot have too many books that explore the different ways children can be mean and what the bullied can do to stand up for themselves and others.—Danielle Jones, Multnomah County Library, OR