The Legend of Memo Castillo — William Alexander

Meet the kids in Mrs. Z’s wacky and wonderful third-grade class! Memo Castillo can’t wait for his first-ever MagiCon fan convention, but his plans are on the verge of collapse unless he can find a ride—fast!    Guillermo "Memo" Castillo and Theo Chang can’t wait to attend the local MagiCon convention.  They’ll dress up in costumes, play in their first-ever Sorcery competition, defeat that snotty fifth grader Josh Harkan, and have an awesome day. But Memo's dad can't drive them to the convention. His mom can't either. Theo's family is out as well. Memo has to figure out a new plan for their epic journey before it’s too late!   He turns to Lala, his fearsome abuela. Lala doesn't speak English, though, and Memo doesn't speak Spanish. When Lala unexpectedly agrees to take Memo and Theo to the convention, it opens up a whole new set of adventures and challenges—along with a kind of magic that Memo never expected.    Both sweetly poignant and laugh-out-loud funny, with black-and-white illustrations by Pura Belpré Honor artist Kat Fajardo, Memo’s story invites readers into Mrs. Z’s class where friendship and fun rule the school, from National Book Award winner William Alexander.  Perfect for!★ My Weirdtastic School fans★ Reluctant readers★ Classroom read-alouds★ Andrew Clements fans★ Multilingual families★ D&D players★ Grandparents Day  Read them all! The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class have plenty of stories to share! Emma McKenna, Full out (#1) Rohan Murthy Has a Plan (#2) Poppy Song Bakes a Way (#3) The Legend of Memo Castillo (#4) Wyatt Hill Brings a Lizard to School (#5) — available for preorder now! Ayana Ndoum Takes the Stage (#6) — available for preorder now! Olive Little Gets Crafty (#7) — available for preorder now! Synclaire Fields Knows the Score (#8) — available for preorder now!   *The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class is an innovative series where every book is written by a different all-star author and features a different kid in the same third-grade class. They can be read in any order!