Last-But-Not-Least Lola and the Wild Chicken

July 1, 2014

Gr 2-5-In her entertaining first book, second-grader Lola Zuckerman, with the help of her family and classmates, came from last place to win her class's "green" vest. In this second installment, readers again find Lola vying to come out on top. This time her class challenge is making friends. Lola covets the sole attention of her best friend, Amanda. Yet Lola's enemy, Jessie, is also Amanda's best friend. To complicate matters further, there is a new girl in class named Savannah. Lola sees both girls as her rivals. "All of us can be best friends," says Amanda. Lola disagrees. With her parents both away on business, Lola's grandma attempts to impart wisdom through her tales of an impatient chicken called Lola. All of this is centered on an upcoming class visit to Kookamut farm. The characters in this contemporary story are delightfully complex, and while they claim to dislike one another, the empathy they display toward one another is what sets this story apart. Lola must learn to cope with feelings that confuse her and repeatedly land her in trouble. The pen-and-ink drawings are bright and inviting. Once again, kids will root for Lola on her quest to be a "good" person. While not as humorous as her first adventure, this romp is a worthwhile read.-Sada Mozer, Los Angeles Public Library

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2014
Lola is back in another tale of school and rocky friendship (Last-But-Not-Least Lola Going Green, 2013). Lola Zuckerman is still in the second grade with Mrs. D., the teacher who refers to her students as brands of candy ("she luh-huvs candy") and insists (for reasons unexplained to readers) on calling her class in alphabetical order. Amanda Anderson is always first, and Lola is always last. This drives Lola mad, especially since Amanda is her (sometimes) best friend, and Lola would like her all to herself. Lola's parents are out of town, and her grandmother is taking care of her and her brother Jack. Grandma loves her "bubelahs," but she's not much of a cook, which adds to Lola's general misery. When new kid Savannah also befriends Amanda, Lola reaches her boiling point. Jealousy is a standard theme for school stories, but Lola's never-ending episodes become tiresome. She makes herself so unlikable that the inevitable happy ending is hard to believe. From Lola to the teacher to the visiting grandmother, each character is more caricature than real person. Hoppe's emotionally honest, frequent black-and-white drawings hold the narrative together well, adding interest when the plot falls. While it's nice to have a Jewish chapter-book protagonist, so far Lola is mostly Clementine-lite. (Fiction. 7-11)

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Starred review from July 1, 2014
Grades 2-5 *Starred Review* Lola Zuckerman's unquenchable high spirits are dampened when her parents each take a business trip at the same time. While they are gone, Lola's grandmother comes from Brooklyn to babysit seven-year-old Lola and her older brother, and while Grandma is affectionate, fun-loving, and unintentionally funny, she doesn't quite know how to give the just-right good-night kiss. Lola also is worried that her grandma might not understand that Lola isn't trying to cause problems at school. For the week her parents are gone, Lola's life includes envy, grief over her own willful destruction of another's property, and a pet dog who reveals where Lola hid Grandma's awful after-school snack. Pakkala perfectly captures the competitive jealousy that sparks among little girls as they claim best friends, as well as the supportive tone of a good teacher caring for well-intentioned but accident-causing pupils. Hoppe's smart cartoon spot illustrations suit the fast-paced, emotionally resonant, and sometimes silly story, further qualifying Lola as the up-to-date heir of Beverly Cleary's Ramona stories. Sweet Lola, who never means to but routinely gets in trouble, will be a comforting character for emergent readers, especially those who sometimes have a hard time not making mistakes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)