(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Michael Fry. After saving Christmas (The Naughty List), Bobbie returns to normal life until her elf friends reappear asking for help closing the Trans-Dimensional portal. She grudgingly agrees, only to have Grumpus try to use her nightmare to terrorize the real world. A frantic pace, haphazard encounters, and Bobbie's near-constant complaining may annoy readers, but there's plenty of anarchic humor and comics-style illustrations to enjoy.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(3) 4-6 Despite coming from a long line of famous supervillains, twelve-year-old Victor is "not the good kind of bad kid. [He's] the bad kind of good kid." To avoid total familial shame, Victor's parents apprentice him to a (disgraced) supervillain called The Smear. Told with a mix of text and comic strips, this new series blends humor with sly cynicism toward the superhero genre.

Reviewer: David Elzey

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Michael Fry. In a setting where magic abounds (and smells like refried beans), a twelve-year-old girl decides that Christmas is a "bully" that should be ignored. Her plan is disrupted when her uncle enlists two elves to help the girl take her younger brother's name off Santa's naughty list. Comics and spot illustrations extend the humor of this clever tale with irreverent references.

Reviewer: Lauren Causey

(3) 4-6 Winning cartoony art grounds this third installment as Nick's harebrained schemes catapult from hilarious to outlandish at frenetic speed. But upper-elementary and young-middle-school readers won't mind: the antics of Molly; Karl; Nick's ever-hilarious grandma, Meemaw; and Meemaw's new boyfriend, school janitor Mr. Dupree, coupled with a mysterious secret society called MLEZ, will no doubt keep them entertained.

Reviewer: Rebecca Kirshenbaum

(3) 4-6 Fry's second installment is more scattered than the first, but the over-the-top antics of Nick and fellow Odd Squad-ers nevertheless prevail. An all-black-clad new student with a suspicious French accent tries to break up Nick's friendship with Molly, and Nick must unite with an old ally to stop her. Cartoony line drawings fill in holes to great comedic effect.

Reviewer: Rebecca Kirshenbaum

(3) 4-6 "Shortest kid on the planet," Nick is bullied incessantly. When he and two other misfits are forced into Safety Patrol by the middle-school guidance counselor as "a place to belong," the three attempt to disarm their bully. Aided by a crazy janitor and (perhaps) Emily Dickinson's ghost, Nick discovers a few things about himself along the way. Wimpy Kid–style illustrations are entertaining.

Reviewer: Rebecca Kirshenbaum