Missy Swiss — David Michael Slater

Gr 1-2 The characters in these books are grappling with inner conflict. In Comin' Through , Jeremy wants to be popular in his new school so he acts out in front of the new janitor, dumping garbage on the floor, or lunch trays in the cafeteria, to impress his classmates with his bravado. The janitor simply stares and quietly cleans up behind him, comin' through. After things get out of hand, Jeremy realizes that comin' through means helping people you care about. In the end, readers learn that the janitor is his dad. In Flour Girl , Sophie must learn to accept her father's fiancée, even if it means sharing their special baking time with her. She retaliates against Maggie and her dad by creating havoc-flour in the woman's purse, in her new shoes, on her father's suit. Once her behavior is exposed, all ends happily. While these two titles focus on specific child-oriented problems, with room for discussion on the characters' unacceptable behavior, the third title offers no such redemption. It centers on a group of refrigerator foods in a meaningless situation where the piece of Swiss cheese and the banana confront their flaws and learn what it means to become true heroes. The book is insipid and garishly yellow. All three books look and sound amateurish in their execution.-Martha Topol, Traverse Heights Elementary School, MI