Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

What with spring break, Easter, and my hubby’s birthday, I’m afraid I’ve gotten a bit behind on book reviews.  That being the case, today you get brief reviews of two books that either one or both of my girlies have been waiting for!

The Invisible Fran is the third installment in Jim Benton’s ‘Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist’ series; in it, Franny learns the folly of belittling other people’s interests AND defeats a ketchup-shooting robot (with the help of some of her classmates).  What’s not to love?  Benton does an amazing job of embedding a worthwhile lesson (moral?) inside a thoroughly entertaining and easy-to-read adventure, so if you’ve got an emerging or a reluctant reader, don’t miss these.

The Return of Zita the Spacegirl is a third installment as well; sadly, it also appears to be the final one, at least for now.  Zita joins with friends both old and new to save a planet from a maniacal overlord–which is fun all by itself–with a twist that took me completely by surprise.  This trilogy has just gotten better as it goes along, which makes me want to write Ben Hatke a letter asking if there will be more about Zita eventually.  Even if there isn’t, however, you at least want to read what there is!  Graphic novels and sci-fi are two genres I don’t actively seek out, but Hatke hooked me.

There you have it, folks!  Goodnight!