(2) YA Illustrated by Elaine Clayton. Abby (Pie in the Sky) is growing up, which means she has some hard decisions to make regarding her family farm and the horses in her life. Readers will come away with more horse knowledge than they had before, while episodes involving school and friends, the elders at church, as well as authentic details about 1960s California, keep this series humming.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2013

(2) YA Illustrated by Elaine Clayton. Abby's new horse Blue plows through his jumps, so Abby is asked to school discouraged classmate Sophia's mount, Pie in the Sky. Can Abby get Sophia riding again, Pie in the Sky to mind her, and Blue to jump? As in Smiley's previous three volumes, Abby's believable voice and a finely tuned sense of place make this a standout for horse-book fans.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2012

(2) YA Illustrated by Elaine Clayton. True Blue, sweet-tempered but easily spooked, needs a home. Horse-wise Abby (The Georges and the Jewels, A Good Horse) takes him on. Abby's story develops in satisfying ways, from her new job as a riding instructor to her estranged brother's reconciliation with their dad. It's gratifying to see good things come into the life of the likable, older-than-her-thirteen-years protagonist.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2011

(2) YA Illustrated by Elaine Clayton. Abby learns that Jack, the colt she rescued in The Georges and the Jewels, might have been sired by a famous race horse. Meanwhile, she works on jumps with Black George for an upper-class horse show. In a novel heavy on horsewomanship, from the show circuit to cow-punching, Abby's no-nonsense personality and understated competence will appeal to accomplished and wannabe riders alike.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2010

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Elaine Clayton. Though it's not allowed by her horse-trainer father, Abby grows attached to one particular gelding and an orphaned foal. The novel is about Abby learning to work with the horses, but also about dealing with her fundamentalist dad. Smiley unfolds the plot strands so naturally, with such an assured, brisk voice, that readers will take them all in avidly.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2009

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Elaine Clayton. This free-verse novel's title refers to the distance between JoEllen's divorced parents' homes: her mother's urban Cincinnati apartment and her father's farm. JoEllen feels split not only between her parents but also between her two very different identities when she's with each of them. The emotionally credible poems are accompanied by collages, doodles, and found art, reinforcing the novel's authentic voice.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Elaine Clayton. In the final book about the students of Miss Earth's small-town-Vermont classroom, aliens from the planet Fixipuddle visit again and a Siberian snow spider pursues one of the kids--all this (and more) during Miss Earth's wedding. Cameos from characters (mostly villains) of the previous books feel tangential, but Maguire is otherwise sure-handed with his impressively outrageous plot.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Elaine Clayton. As Miss Earth's class prepares to celebrate April Fool's Day, their beloved teacher mysteriously disappears. The solution to the mystery is bizarre, but readers have come to expect a melding of the everyday and the outlandish in this satirical series distinguished by idiosyncratic characters and laugh-out-loud dialogue.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Elaine Clayton. The two clubs in Miss Earth's classroom, the Tattletales and the Copycats, compete in a school egg hunt for charity. Unbeknownst to the children, three of the eggs have been genetically mutated as part of a scientific experiment; they later hatch fire-breathing chicks. Maguire handles his large cast of characters with aplomb in a satiric romp filled with laugh-out-loud humor.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(2) YA Illustrated by Elaine Clayton. Familiar adolescent girl milestones--first crush, first period--are recorded here in a series of linked poems laid out to read as if they come straight from the teen narrator's private journal. Wayland's verse is not great literature, which is partly why it sounds so authentic. Eclectic collage artwork decorates the pages, adding to the volume's personalized feel, and an author's note charts the book's origins. Ind.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2002

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Elaine Clayton. The fourth book about the children in Miss Earth's class in small town Vermont is as over-the-top as the earlier ones. Valentine's Day is approaching, and Fawn inadvertently brings four ancient Greek cupids to class where they cause romantic trouble for the hapless teacher and her pupils. With its broad humor and outrageous story, this is for readers who appreciate satire and the absurd.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Elaine Clayton. Through a friendship with a boy struggling to come to terms with his parents' divorce and on-going battles with a seemingly inept and out-of-touch student teacher, Woody learns that a person may be quite different than initially perceived. The book will be gobbled up--and enjoyed--by the voracious reader, but it lacks the more highly evolved characterization and plot that mark short novels by authors such as Johanna Hurwitz and Barbara Park.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Elaine Clayton. The countdown continues for Miss Earth and her students, who previously appeared in Seven Spiders Spinning and Six Haunted Hairdos. When Mayor Grass (garbed as Santa) disappears, teachers and students band together to find him. Their search leads to a crew of misguided aliens who have mistaken the mayor for Santa Claws--a maniacal dictator. Maguire's writing is fast paced, playful, and full of wit.

Reviewer: Mark Adam