Mimi's Treasure Trouble

September 1, 2019
A girl's quest for treasure alienates her friends. Mimi lives in an apartment in Periwinkle Tower, where most of her friends live as well. Their current project is to dig a tunnel so that Sofie, who isn't lucky enough to live in Periwinkle Tower, can sneak in and live among her friends. What Mimi hasn't told her friends is that her reasons for helping dig the tunnel aren't entirely altruistic: She's hoping to find buried treasure. When that information comes to light, and after Mimi insults her friend Yoshi and calls him "stupid," her friends abandon her. She has to swallow some humble pie if she wants to win them back. Though their town of Pueblo del Mar is ostensibly in the United States and Mimi and her friends attend school, there are no parents in this world, and the children drive their own cars and cook their own food. The shallow conflicts in the story shift chapter by chapter, and the worldbuilding is neither realistic nor fantastical, putting it in an uncomfortable nowhereland. Bobblehead-style illustrations present a diverse cast of characters, but Mimi's ever present sombrero (a gift from Yoshi after a bad haircut) feels like a cheap way to signal that the character is Latina. It seems the book wants us to laugh with it, but it's much easier to laugh at it. Both meandering and implausible even when suspending disbelief. (Fiction. 5-9)

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October 11, 2019

Gr 1-4-In this sequel to It's Not Easy Being Mimi, it's still not easy being Mimi. Mimi and her friends in the Periwinkle Tower have formed the Gum Club; loyal and true, and sticking together through their intermittent ups and downs. Mimi's plans include winning the spelling bee and the science fair, earning a spot in the reformatory school, and most importantly, finding buried treasure as they dig a tunnel to connect the Periwinkle Tower to Gum Club member Sophie's house. However, there is trouble in this quirky paradise as Mimi has to learn about both proper apologies and sharing. Mimi learns that true apologies don't include explanations, and that treasure is much better when shared with her friends. VERDICT Though the installments may lack a certain depth, the oddball humor and idiosyncratic characters offer a light read for early chapter book readers. Large formatted text and bouncy illustrations help keep the narrative moving, although transitions are abrupt and episodes are a bit random. The light story and bizarre characters will charm readers who enjoyed Mimi's earlier adventures. -Jamie Jensen, Wayne Cox Elementary School, Roanoke, TX

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