(2) 4-6 A button war ensues after sixth grader Grace acquires boxes of old buttons and Grace's classmates create a burgeoning button economy. In a scene that's a model of friendship dynamics and of how wars get started, things get ugly when Grace snares a particularly attractive button her bossy best friend wants. Clements knows the appeal of digging into details, and he's not afraid to engage characters in abstract thinking.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2019

(2) 4-6 Sixth grader Alec, forced by the afterschool program to either join or create a club, comes up with the "Losers Club," whose name is intended to ensure solitary reading bliss. But as the club increases its members, Alec's expectations change. The story easily works in themes of evolving friendships, bullying and teasing, and how reading is the best thing ever. Reading list.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2017

(4) PS Illustrated by R. W. Alley. This somewhat nostalgic story features two young children visiting their grandparents' farm. When the youngsters bumble typical activities such as picking apples and gathering eggs, instead of criticizing them, the grandparents gently show them a better way, ending with a fond bedtime. The upbeat, affectionate mood is reinforced by delicate mixed-media art with humorous touches.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(3) 4-6 When nerdy, map-obsessed Alton's folder of potentially embarrassing maps and diagrams of his teachers and sixth-grade classmates goes missing, he is desperate to retrieve it. His quest results in trouble, public exposure, and the need for multiple apologies, but he also makes a new friend and expands his horizons. An accessible, gently thought-provoking, and engaging story illustrated with light pencil sketches.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(4) 4-6 Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School series. Illustrated by Adam Stower. Ben, Jill, and Robert continue their efforts to save their school from demolition by unsavory corporate forces. Clements deftly weaves setting and plot, but copious series re-capping drags the pacing down, and references to historical battles are almost too subtle. Stower festoons his pen-and-ink drawings with splashes of green, mixing modern characters with an old-fashioned mystery look.

Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby

(3) K-3 Illustrated by R. W. Alley. Clements demonstrates the meaning of self-reliance in this good-natured story of a mother-son camping trip. When difficulties arise, the mom doesn't rush to make things easier for her young child; instead, she patiently shows him how to solve the problems on his own. Expressive, affectionate illustrations portray the boy's changing emotions as he masters each challenge.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) 4-6 Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School series. Illustrated by Adam Stower. This third volume in the series advances the mystery hidden within the old Oakes School; adds a third, unexpected keeper to Ben and Jill's partnership; further develops the kids' personal story lines; and continues their plot to stop greedy developers from turning the valuable seaside parcel into an amusement park. Stower's retro-looking spot illustrations enhance the fast-moving installment.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Mark Elliott. Sixth-grader Jordan Johnston thinks she is plain and average but learns to appreciate herself after she deals with a bully and saves the orchestra from a tornado. While the natural disaster ending feels contrived, her character's genuine insecurities and desires add universality to the story. Elliott's pencil illustrations capture moments with simple, sketchlike lines.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Mark Elliott. Clay can't wait to tell his older brother Mitch--a troublemaker in his day--about his latest trip to the principal's office. But Mitch has just gotten out of jail, and he doesn't want Clay following in his footsteps. How does Clay go about reinventing himself? Clements has fashioned another fine school story, this time about second chances and the possibility of change.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2011

(3) 4-6 Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School series. Illustrated by Adam Stower. In this sequel to We the Children, Ben and his suddenly reluctant friend Jill carry on the fight to keep their seaside school from being torn down for an amusement park. With a former keeper's help, they outwit the developer's creepy spy and manage to decipher some of the original school founder’s clues. The engaging mystery continues to speed along toward, presumably, a third installment.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(4) PS Photographs by Raquel Jaramillo. Clements's paean to hands and hand-held devices (umbrellas, leashes, trowels, etc.) is delivered in rhyming verse. There's a sense of randomness about the highlighted items; what holds the whole thing together are Jaramillo's crisp, bright photographs of smiling children using their hands.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(2) 4-6 Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School series. Illustrated by Adam Stower. Clements's coastal New England–set mystery series starts with the school custodian pressing a mysterious coin on sixth grader Ben, then dying. This leads Ben to investigate the plan to tear down his old school. Very much a series entry, the book ends before any of the clues have been followed. It's light stuff, but there's a lot of child appeal.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2010

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Tim Bowers. The story of Mooch, a stray who finds a new home then nearly loses it, is told exclusively in haiku ("Chew on dirty socks. / Roll around in week-old trash. / Ahhh...that's much better"). The haiku are funny, pensive, and affecting--sometimes all at once--and the oil paintings are just as thoughtfully executed. This paper-over-board edition is notable for its bargain price.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Mark Elliott. Reluctant student Abby chooses an Afghani pen pal, Sadeed. Because Sadeed's teacher disapproves of him corresponding with a girl, Sadeed writes to Abby in secret. A plot twist brings this story of international relations together; in the end, Abby becomes a more serious student while Sadeed questions gender roles. Clements's timely story should receive high marks from middle-grade and early-middle-school readers.

Reviewer: Robin L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2009

(4) YA Clements uses the same characters from Things Not Seen and Things Hoped For but tells this story from the persepctive of Alicia, who's blind. Alicia is thrust into a mystery when a (literally) invisible man wanted by the FBI seeks her help. It's the story's less-over-the-top elements--how Alicia copes with her disability and her crush on Bobby--that have the most appeal.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Mark Elliott. Identical twins Jay and Ray try out life as a composite individual when Ray is sick for the first day of sixth grade and no one notices. The boys take turns being Jay, but their different talents trip them up. Clements depicts their quarrels energetically and honestly. The short, easy-to-parse sentences, conversational tone, light, funny style, and realistic school setting are appealing.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2008

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Tim Bowers. Here's an original dog tale: the story of Mooch, a stray who finds a new home then nearly loses it, is told exclusively in haiku. ("Chew on dirty socks. / Roll around in week-old trash. / Ahhh...that's much better.") The haiku are funny, pensive, and affecting--sometimes all at once--and the oil paintings are just as thoughtfully executed.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Mark Elliott. After several exchanges about who talks more, girls or boys, fifth-graders Dave and Lynsey come up with a contest to see who can talk the least for three days. Clements's point that "less talking allows more time for real thinking" is less than subtly conveyed. Still, a peek-into-the-teachers'-lounge element will appeal to middle-grade readers. Nicely textured sketchlike illustrations effectively capture moments in the text.

Reviewer: Betty Carter

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Chris Blair. In small-town Plattsford, Nebraska, sixth-grade paperboy/Boy Scout/4-H-er/mystery buff Ted Hammond secretly befriends a girl who is hiding with her mother and brother in an abandoned farmhouse. When they disappear, Ted must figure out what happened. The subplot describing the townspeople's struggles, including a fight to keep their tiny school open, further helps set the scene and ties in with a hopeful ending.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Mike Reed. Each page shows many thousands of small dots laid out over digital art so that at the end of the book readers have seen a million. Although the methodology is confusing, Clements presents interesting facts (there are more than three hundred thousand kinds of beetles), and Reed's clever pictures effectively relay the scope of large numbers.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth