Jennifer Torres

Third grader David Suárez has been living next door to a pair of prankster twins his whole life and things go from bad to worse when he gets new neighbors on the other side of his house -- a set of triplets who are just as competitive and sneaky as the twins! It's all out war between the two sets of siblings with David stuck in the middle. Soon, the prank wars threaten not only the peace of the playground, but also David's chance to become captain of the geography club -- a goal he's been working on for months! What can David do in this impossible situation?

This is a great chapter book for young readers, particularly those transitioning away from early readers but not ready yet for longer tomes. The book uses a relatively large font and lots of black-and-white illustrations to make reading easier as well. The illustrations fit the text perfectly and help to flesh out the various and diverse characters in the neighborhood. There's a little "progress bar" at the end of each chapter, filling in a little blob for each of the twelve chapters the reader has gotten through so far. This is super encouraging for all readers, but especially for reluctant readers who might need the little push of confidence. Some chapters also end with prompts that ask the reader to predict what might happen next. These kinds of questions help with reading comprehension and flexing creative problem-solving muscles. The end of the book also contains several ideas for expanding on details in the book and connecting them to the reader's own life, such as drawing a map of a local playground the way that David does.

While this book definitely has lots of pros in terms of helping youngsters to expand their literacy abilities, it is also just fun. The overarching plot line of ridiculous pranks being committed leads to increasingly comical situations. Kids are sure to get a chuckle out of the antics of the school children in this book, including the geography puns from David's friend Edith. This is definitely a good choice for kids who want relatively realistic stories in school settings. If you're a reader who enjoyed titles from the Branches or Quix publication lines, this is another great option.… (altro)

It's the midst of a pandemic (never specifically referred to as covid-19 or another disease, but "all this," as in "after all this is over") and twins Raquel and Lucinda are at home with their mother, attending online school. Raquel dedicates herself to keeping up publication of the school newspaper and Lucinda worries about not being able to practice for a skating competition while the ice rinks are shut down. Then their mother decides to send them to stay with their dad during the shutdown. They see this as an opportunity to get their parents back together again, but they find that their dad's girlfriend and her daughter are also staying with him. The goal-oriented Raquel is more headstrong and wily in her strategies while Lucinda increasingly becomes more uncomfortable with their plans.… (altro)