(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Jerry Craft. Two fifth graders vie to win their middle school’s annual creative storytelling contest. Both are already experienced storytellers: J illustrates books without words, and K writes stories without illustrations. In real life, Craft and Alexander have a lively friendly rivalry on display in social media posts and joint school visits, and this highly illustrated novel (cartoonlike black-and-white drawings appear throughout; final art unseen) is the perfect playground for their fictional ­counterparts—and for themselves, as both authors interject regularly with notes. Ever competitive, J and K try undermining each other’s chances for winning the contest by giving bad advice: draw with your nondominant hand, write what you don’t know, write in “sixth person.” Readers will soon suspect that J and K will join forces to write a book together, combining their talents, and indeed they enter the contest with their frog story collaboration, “Croak and Swagger: The Most Ribbiting Story Ever Told.” The culminating award ceremony, related with suspense and humor, isn’t the final word. Not only are readers told “To Be Continued…” but Craft and Alexander also offer “more fun…with this QR code” and write each other’s author bios with more of their trash talk.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2025

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Jerry Craft. When Bakari is nominated for hall monitor, he provokes hostility from his classmates Keisha and Tariq. To make matters worse, Zenon--the king of an icy zombie dimension--kidnaps Bakari and threatens to destroy humanity if a missing magical ring is not returned. Both classroom and interdimensional conflicts are quashed in this fresh (if underdeveloped) urban fantasy. The slick black-and-white illustrations are unfortunate.

Reviewer: Shara Hardeson