(2) YA "Worm" Tarnauer is the sort of middle-school kid who likes to be invisible, "to be out of sight, underground, watching, listening. A spectator"--until a ghost girl changes all of that. Worm can't wait for Dead ­Wednesday, when eighth graders are supposed to ­remember Pennsylvania teenagers who died from ­preventable accidents, such as wrapping their cars around trees. ("Wrappers," the kids callously call them.) Their faces are on posters in the school, and eighth graders receive their name cards and wear black shirts. The students become "Deaders," and teachers act like they don't see them. But to "freedom-drunk" eighth graders, lack of supervision means raucous behavior, a.k.a. pure bliss. Then the dead girl on Worm's card--Rebecca Ann Finch, age seventeen--appears and tells him she is there "to fix him," to show him the life he is missing by being a worm, a ­middle-school fun junkie, more interested in video games than the real life all around him. Spinelli makes the relationship between a boy and a ghost heartwarming; the life lessons of a dead girl profound; and social commentary astute but not didactic. Dialogue is snappy, and every scene is tight and memorable. Susan Caraway from Spinelli's Stargirl (2000) might see in Becca Finch a kindred spirit.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(3) 4-6 In 1959, twelve-year-old Camille lives in a suite inside a prison where her father is the warden. There's a busy, multi-strand plot; the driver of the story is Camille's hunger for a mother (her own died when Camille was a baby). The characters don't always ring true, but Spinelli's gift for humorous chaos and his trademark magic-realism touches are showcased.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2017

(3) K-3 Illustrated by LeUyen Pham. This feel-good family story shows all the Seeton siblings, from childhood to adulthood, being drawn to home by their mother's "simple, two-note whistle." While the beginning is set in a bygone era, the ending is contemporary and relevant. Homey illustrations with a Norman Rockwell sensibility give the characters distinct personalities and show the whistle as a fantastical entity swirling through the air.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(4) 4-6 With landmarks including "Forbidden Hut" and "Gorilla Hill" (a mound of dirt), Hokey Pokey is a Neverland-like world peopled by children characterized as "Newbies," "Snotsippers," "Sillynillies," and "Gappergums." Spinelli's allegory of Childhood Lost can be alienating in its improvisatory nature, with stream-of-consciousness run-on sentences and made-up words. Some readers may thrill to the narrative style, just as others will find it impenetrable.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2013

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Jennifer A. Bell. In this Fourth Grade Rats prequel, Suds is becoming a "third grade angel." One member of Mrs. Simms's class per week will be the "boss angel" and Suds decides that he'll be the first. Spinelli has his finger on the pulse of notoriously competitive third-graders, and Suds's first-person account rings true. Black-and-white illustrations move the story along while supporting unsure readers.

Reviewer: Robin L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2012

(2) 4-6 Twins Jake and Lily have always shared a birthday, a room, and a special connection. The summer before sixth grade, their parents decide they should have separate rooms, and Jake starts hanging around with Bump Stubbins, whom Lily loathes. The story is a conversation between the twins, with alternating viewpoints; the structure provides insight into the characters both as individuals and siblings.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2012

(3) PS Illustrated by Jimmy Liao. A young boy can be anything: a "snowball smoother," a "baby-sis soother," a "cross-legged sitter," or a "make-believe critter" in this amusing rhyming book. Watercolor and acrylic illustrations celebrate the ordinary while imagining the unusual roles that a kid can play with a little bit of creativity, energy, and a sense of the ridiculous.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Julia Rothman. The Spinellis dispense advice on topics including homework, siblings, and the environment. Each entry begins with a quote from a children's book followed by a paragraph of advice and a "promise" readers can make about the subject at hand. It's a tad condescending, but receptive readers will find many tidbits for reflection in this compendium of common sense and wisdom.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(2) 4-6 Will Tuppence is obsessed with proton decay, chess tournaments, and Saturday night Monopoly. Life throws out unplanned moments, though, and when a whopper comes his way, Will gets a Frank Capraesque opportunity to reassess his situation. Spinelli develops Will as sympathetic before revealing the self-absorbed perfectionist inside. There's sentimentality here, but also a multifaceted character with undeniable charisma.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2008

(2) 4-6 Nine-year-old David and thirteen-year-old Primrose share a unique, volatile friendship. Both have absent parents, and Spinelli skillfully portrays their fragile psyches, leading them to simultaneously cling to and lash out at one another. Though the children's wounds may heal too cleanly in the end, their fierce devotion to each other makes everything they do seem possible.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2007

(4) YA The eccentric teen who temporarily reconfigured the social structure of Mica High writes an extended letter to her one-time boyfriend, Stargirl narrator Leo. Stargirl has moved to Pennsylvania, and Spinelli surrounds her with a host of offbeat characters. The preciousness combines with a relentlessly uplifting plot and makes the reader long for the bracing counterweight of those ultra-conventional Mica High cheerleaders.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2007

(4) 4-6 A homeless young boy joins an unruly gang of Jewish street kids. The horrors of the Holocaust don't become evident until Misha (another of Spinelli's exuberant, good-hearted protagonists) and his friends are rounded up and confined to the Warsaw ghetto. Though this novel suffers from uneven pacing and a conclusion that's unconvincing and cloying, it also contains some memorably harrowing images that will remain in the reader's mind.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2003

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Seymour Chwast. In a paean to super daddies everywhere, a boy (portrayed as a dog) reveals the many ways that his father makes their time together both fun and special. Spinelli's poetic text honors fathers in a warm and childlike manner without becoming overly sentimental. Illustrations employ a bright palette with child appeal but may have been more effective with human characters.

Reviewer: CHristine Sarrazin

(2) 4-6 The present-tense, omniscient narrative shows how an exuberantly eccentric boy can suddenly be labeled a loser by judgmental fourth-grade classmates. Donald Zinkoff, the latest of Spinelli's larger-than-life protagonists, is featured in a novel that's elemental in focus yet mythic in tone. Though the story sometimes lacks subtlety, it's a wonderful character study of a likable--even lovable--kid.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2002

(4) YA When Stargirl, a contemporary Pollyanna, is shunned for disloyal cheerleading (she roots for both teams), high school junior Leo persuades her to go along with the crowd. Predictably, this doesn't work for Stargirl; on the author's part, it occasions much heavy-handed moralizing about conformity. But as a story of high school outsiders and light romance, this will find an audience.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2000

(2) 4-6 Spinelli's childhood memoir, illustrated with black-and-white photos, is presented as a series of highly polished vignettes. Important events, such as winning a foot race and losing a loved family pet, are juxtaposed with quiet reminiscences. There is an "everyboy" universality to Spinelli's experiences, but his keen powers of observation and recall turn the story into a richly rewarding personal history.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.