Zombie Cows!

August 1, 2011

Gr 2-4-Amelia may look like a mild-mannered grade schooler with hipster sunglasses and a heavy backpack, but in reality she is a secret agent with enough gadgets to rival McGuyver and an imagination that puts Harriet the Spy to shame. Her plan is to save the world from evil geniuses and criminal masterminds, and she always succeeds. In each easy chapter book, she solves three cases that center on some bizarre doings. If there's a guy at the garden store raising mutant weeds, then a little herbicide will remedy the situation. If a couple is getting ready to rob a bank using an army of cats, then the yarn from an unraveled sweater will solve that problem. The child even manages to get the better of her nemesis, popular girl Trudy Hart. And the only one who gets even close to thwarting Amelia is her mom, who is just a little too curious about what her daughter lugs around in such a large backpack and why she appears rather friendless. These imaginative books will appeal to readers with a quirky sense of humor and might also find fans with readers of Dave Keane's "Joe Sherlock, Kid Detective" (HarperCollins).-Kathleen Meulen Ellison, Sakai Intermediate School, Bainbridge Island, WA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2012
Spunky Amelia is a young spy with a special talent for rooting out grownups bent on taking over the world. Each of these volumes features three cases in which Amelia goes up against stock villains. Despite the holes in logic, the mysteries are entertainingly goofy. The texts' humor comes and goes; spirited black-and-white illustrations make a solid attempt at sustaining it.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)