(3) 4-6 After a spate of “criminal truancy”--her way of coping with her brother’s disappearance--Nell Batista must do community service or risk being expelled from middle school. Along with three classmates, she is assigned to the Last Chance Club. When the club’s advisor, Mr. Boot, hands out chopsticks and tells the students they’re going to learn magic, it becomes clear that the Last Chance Club is not your typical volunteer gig. They will be angels, using their new magical skills to help people achieve their inner desires. When one lesson drops Nell into a parallel world (the “Nigh,” where everything is just a little bit off from what she’s used to in the “Hither”--for instance, the Statue of Liberty holds a remote control instead of a torch), she and her classmates end up fighting evil and solving the mystery of her brother’s disappearance. Potter has created an intriguing pair of worlds. What at first seems whimsical (there are plenty of Oifen-Shoifen spells and Notsen-Glotsen hexes) has pronouncedly dark undertones. The book explores questions of grief, exploitation, and responsibility through its occasionally convoluted plot. It’s also a love letter to a particular experience of New York City, a la When You Reach Me (rev. 7/09); Nell’s relationship with her local chess hustlers is a delight.

Reviewer: Sarah Rettger

(3) 1-3 Big Foot and Little Foot series. Illustrated by Felicita Sala. Young Sasquatch Hugo, who lives in a cavern in the North Woods, accidentally meets a nine-year-old human named Boone. The two strike a fast friendship and together enjoy looking for "mysterious creatures"--when not attending school or working to overcome their cultural differences. Lively adventures for young cryptozoologists, with short chapters and copious drawings that make for nonintimidating page layouts. Review covers these Big Foot and Little Foot titles: Big Foot and Little Foot and The Monster Detector.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(3) 1-3 Big Foot and Little Foot series. Illustrated by Felicita Sala. Young Sasquatch Hugo, who lives in a cavern in the North Woods, accidentally meets a nine-year-old human named Boone. The two strike a fast friendship and together enjoy looking for "mysterious creatures"--when not attending school or working to overcome their cultural differences. Lively adventures for young cryptozoologists, with short chapters and copious drawings that make for nonintimidating page layouts. Review covers these Big Foot and Little Foot titles: Big Foot and Little Foot and The Monster Detector.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(3) 1-3 Piper Green and the Fairy Tree series. Illustrated by Qin Leng. In her third multi-stranded adventure set on a small Maine island, seven-year-old Piper Green sets out to earn enough money to buy a horse, befriends a seal (whom she terms a "sea pony"), and finds her lobsterman father's lost skiff. Brief chapters, a wealth of expressive line-and-wash illustrations, and Piper's irrepressible nature will hold the interest of newly independent readers.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(3) 1-3 Piper Green and the Fairy Tree series. Illustrated by Qin Leng. When a new student joins her second-grade class (riding the lobster boat to school with everyone else), Piper's lucky streak seems to come to an end. In her second chapter book, imaginative and opinionated Piper is the driving force behind the emotionally resonate slice-of-life plot set on Peek-a-Boo Island. The short chapters are accompanied by lighthearted black-and-white illustrations.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Qin Leng. For Peek-a-Boo Island resident Piper Green, starting second grade involves taking a lobster boat to school and insisting on wearing green monkey-face earmuffs. Soon Piper is in trouble with new teacher Ms. Arabella. Very brief chapters and frequent illustrations swiftly advance the story, as does Piper's quirky first-person narration. How the earmuff standoff is resolved makes for a satisfying, funny early chapter book.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2015

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by David Heatley. Fans of the first Otis Dooda book will relish the return of Otis, Potted Plant Guy, and other Tidwell Towers residents in this sequel. Otis's big bro Gunther's mysterious girlfriend, Pandora, visits while Otis plots beating neighbor Sid Frackas to be the building's Lego genius. Underscored by Heatley's drawings, the book's wackiness is laid on thick but it sure is fun.

Reviewer: Rebecca Kirshenbaum

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by David Heatley. This book revolves around a motley assortment of NYC apartment-building residents and Otis Dooda's attempts to free himself from a curse bestowed by lobby fixture "Potted Plant Guy." Otis must thwart his pimply brother; meddling, pushy mom; and a neighbor's smelly pony. Gross-out jokes will amuse potty-humor enthusiasts, and entertaining cartoons complement the story but add little dimension to Otis's plight.

Reviewer: Rebecca Kirshenbaum

(4) 4-6 Orphaned Roo goes to live with her uncle on a remote island. She meets a boy magically in tune with nature; helps cure her ill cousin; and restores a hidden tropical garden. The St. Lawrence River is more distinctly evoked than some of the characters, but readers will root for Roo in this novel "inspired by" The Secret Garden.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(3) YA Illustrated by Matt Phelan. A how-to manual with heart, this guide contains brief sections offering encouragement, advice, and playful exercises for budding writers. Mazer and Potter draw on autobiography as they discuss major writing topics from finding ideas to crafting characters and plot to overcoming nerves and writer's block. Catchy subheadings and Phelan's often-humorous illustrations complement the friendly tone.

Reviewer: Marika Jeffrey

(2) 4-6 Lucia Hardscrabble and her two brothers travel to a castle at Snoring-by-the-Sea where they encounter an ominous taxidermist, secret passages, and an eight-toed cat. The story's elaborate plot is scaffolded with mysteries and secrets; most importantly: what really happened to the children's mother? Metafictional flourishes keep us on our toes as Potter tackles some serious topics from a position both gothic-cheeky and compassionate.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2010

(3) 4-6 Owen, nearly a genius and "fifty-seven percent fatter" than average, feels like an outcast at school--especially after someone starts stealing his cookies. Meanwhile, he's working on an invention to view two-year-old signals from a neighborhood deli's surveillance camera, the significance of which is explained late in the story. Owen, a likable kid with a fresh voice, ably navigates the tale's many subplots.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning

(3) 4-6 Olivia is back in another strange and tangled story, as she reluctantly agrees to help her friend locate an anthropologist living in New York's oldest subway tunnel. She continues communicating with her brother who died a year ago, and her mother reappears--after a two-year absence--wanting to establish a relationship. With aplomb, Olivia faces teen tribulations both typical and bizarre.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. Olivia and her father move into a brownstone where the first floor is navigable only by boat, and whose charming owner, Ansel Plover, runs a business for "evening visitors." Eventually Olivia learns that Ansel runs an "Exit Academy," a school dreaming people attend to rehearse their imminent deaths. This sequel to Olivia Kidney is clever, imaginative, and enjoyably offbeat.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2005

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Peter Reynolds. This compelling, unsettling novel begins when twelve-year-old Olivia realizes she has lost her keys. A boy lets her into her apartment building, where she visits several different apartments, each strange and threatening in its own way. Unlike her literary predecessor, Carroll's Alice, Olivia take a metaphorical journey through grief over a death in her family; as she faces that truth, she helps the boy accept an equally difficult one.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2003