The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class

Messner, Kate and Fajardo, Kat (illus.) 

Emma McKenna, Full Out (The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class #1)
April 30, 2024 by Algonquin Young Readers

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Emma is excited to be starting Curiosity Academy, a brand new school in her Peppermint Falls community, where she will be in the third grade with the sneaker wearing Mrs. Zamora. Emma wants her new classmates to think she is interesting, so brings a lot of exuberance to the classroom... until she finds out that her nemesis from last year, Lucy, is attending the school as well. Emma has younger twin sisters, Abby and Mae, who are interested in daily celebrations like National Skyscraper Day, and Emma starts sharing these with her classmates. National Extra Dessert Day doesn't go well when she tries to give away a handful of gummy worms one at a time. People are understandably leery, and Emma ends up standing on a table to advertise her plan, which gets her in a little trouble, although Mrs. Z is very understanding and constructive in her reprimand. The school is trying to figure out a new mascot, with students researching different animals, and the third graders are all learning to play the recorder. One of their assignments is to play a song for other people. When the teacher announces a competition, with the student who has the most people listen winning candy, one student opines that this is divisive, and suggests that each student should play for ten people, and if the class meets their goal, everyone can get candy. Emma teams up with Rohan for the recorder playing, traveling around their neighborhood and serenading neighbors, but is apprehensive about getting up and giving a speech about her mascot choice, the capybara. Last year, in a disastrous talent show incident, she fell out with Lucy, who gave her the nickname "Bongo Butt" after a cheerleading wardrobe malfunction revealed bright yellow underwear with her dog's picture on them! Will Emma be able to overcome her anxiety and to come to an understanding with her former best friend?

This is an interesting start to a series that will be written by a wide array of early middle grade authors. It's definitely school based, and embraces the same kind of format as Mills' Franklin School Friends or After School All-Stars books, with each new volume concentrating on a new character. The big difference is that the authors show a bit more diversity, which is reflected in the character on which they are focused. I love that the end of these lists the author's favorite thing about third grade, which is, after all, an awesome year! 

Curiosity Academy is everyone's dream school, with student engagement and support, helpful teachers, and no evil administrators so far! We see just enough of Emma's family to understand her a little, which is important. Third grade is a time when children start to feel even more autonomous and develop personalities of their own. Still, family is critically important, so seeing the ice cream shop, Minnie's, that Emma's parents run, and her engaging four-year-old sisters, is helpful. 

Series books are always a popular choice with emerging readers, and this slice-of-life look at students at Curiosity Academy, with illustrations by Kat Fajardo (Miss Quinces), will be embraced by readers who like to follow the antics of their favorite characters like Prior and Kissi's Emma Just Medium, Sheth's Nina Soni, Harley's Charlie Bumpers, Calandrelli's Ada Lace, and Kelly's Ballpark Mysteries and Football Mysteries. 

LaRocca, Rajani, and Fajardo, Kat (illus.)

Rohan Murthy Has a Plan (The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class #2)
April 30, 2024 by Algonquin Young Readers

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

 

Mrs. Z. has some good news; the children at Curiosity Academy are going to be able to have a school garden. In order to get supplies, however, they will need to be able to raise some money. Rohan's mother, who is an artist, stops by to give the class some pointers on how to set up their own businesses. Wanting to be an entrepreneur, and to raise money for the garden, Rohan decides that he will start a dog walking business, since it fills a need in his community. His parents, however, are skeptical, since he has never had to take care of a pet. Before they okay the idea, they want him to gain some experience. He is able to take home Honey, the class guinea pig, for the weekend. He is less successful when trying to befriend his music teacher's cat, who once scratched him. Things don't go as smoothy with Honey as he had hoped. With the help of his friends in Mrs. Z's class, he realizes that he has much stronger drawing skills than pet care ones, and decides to work with a classmate who is baking animal cookies. He will draw sketches of peoples pets, and leave the dog walking to people with more experience. 

LaRocca has several books for older middle grade readers that include facets of this story; business skills in Midsummer's Mayhem and Indian cultural connections in Red, White, and Whole, and has recently moved into books for younger readers, like the recent The Secret of the Dragon Gems with Chris Baron, so it's good to see her take her turn with the new series. Rohan's enthusiasm for helping is tempered with his fear over pets, and he is able to navigate these complicated feelings with the support of parents and classmates. Gaining independence is a major accomplishment in third grade, and LaRocca does an excellent job of showing this process with nuance and understanding. 

Fajardo's illustrations are always fun to see, but this particular book had a lot of very cute pets, which will be an added attraction for young readers. 

Pet walking is a job that many young children can handle, and Rohan's attempts at setting his business up would put him in good company with  Faruqi Must Love Pets series and Fairbairn and Assarasakorn's Paws books. Early chapter book readers who liked Ahn's Pug Pals or Winston's Wednesday and Woof mysteries will also be interested to see another installment of adventures from Curiosity Academy.