Hailey Twitch Is Not a Snitch

July 1, 2010
Grades 2-4 Hailey Twitch is definitely not a snitch, especially when a 200-year-old sprite named Maybelle flies out of her doll house and disrupts Haileys second-grade life. It seems Maybelle is on probation from the Department of Magic because she is a rulemonger, just the opposite of Hailey. When Haileys teacher assigns her to partner with Addie Jokobeck for a class project on diversity (topic: France), the trouble starts. Because Addie is also in love with rules, its easy for invisible Maybelle to incite rivalry, leaving Hailey the culprit. Plucky and bossy Hailey is the only character with dimension, though she is saddled with the grating habit of repeating adjectives three times (e.g., very, very, very fun). The dialogue has clunky moments, and the ending is abrupt, too obviously setting up the rest of the seriesand is the second grade the best choice for an early chapter book? Thankfully, the black-and-white drawings lend personality to Hailey and bedeck Maybelle in all sorts of glamorous clothes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)