The Chocopocalypse

Callaghan, Chris. The Chocopocalypse
October 10th 2017 by Delacorte Press
Copy provided by the publisher

Jennifer Wellington, known as Jelly Welly, lives a pleasant but somewhat constrained life with her parents in Chompton-on-de-Lyte, a British town centered around the production and distribution of chocolate. When she hears on a television program that chocolate will disappear in a few days, following an ancient prophecy, she worries about how this will effect her and her family. Her grandmother, who lives in a dilapidated trailer in the driveway, helps her to investigate and to construct an experiment to determine if this is actually true. Of course, world wide panic ensues, chocolate becomes scarce, and Jelly starts to suspect that local chocolatier Garibaldi Chocolati (aka Choccy Cookie) might be somehow involved.
Strengths: Titles with food in them are always popular, and the idea of a world without chocolate is intriguing to say the least. There are a fair amount of illustrations along with the text, which my 6th graders are demanding this year, and this is a fast paced story that is a good length.
Weaknesses: This is VERY British, with vaguely distressed family, evil villains and nosy neighbors with odd names, and unlikely situations.
What I really think: Buy this if titles like Boyce's The Astounding Broccoli Boy, Walliams' The Demon Dentist or Ms. Rapscott's Girls are popular. I did manage to check out The Demon Dentist recently to a child who claimed his favorite book was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
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