The bridge battle

In the sixth volume of the engaging series that began with The Lemonade War (2007), ten-year-old Evan becomes the target of an older, taller boy who bullies him during summer school. Evan faces moral issues head-on and is dismayed to find himself caving in to the demands of his tormentor, bullying a smaller boy in an ill-fated attempt to gain acceptance and safety. Meanwhile, Evan's nine-year-old sister, Jessie, tries to maneuvers her Summer Fun Exploration Camp class to stop creating fairy houses and focus on building scale-model bridges instead. Though highly intelligent and diligent in mastering whatever area of science or engineering interests her at the moment, Jessie has trouble recognizing other people's emotions and, sometimes, understanding her own. The third-person narrative switches between Evan's difficulties and Jessie's predicaments. In the end, the players in both dramas converge for a climactic outdoor scene that is memorable for its satisfying combination of justice and wit. Portraying characters with perception and dealing with real issues in kids' lives, this absorbing chapter book is satisfying on many levels.

The summer following the events of The Lemonade War (2007) is one of literal as well as figurative bridge building for sibs Evan and Jessie. Prickly 9-year-old Jessie is initially disgusted, as instead of being enrolled in a summer camp for young engineers, she's relegated to "How to Make and Decorate Fairy Houses"--worse yet, she joins a trio of mean third grade girls led by nemesis Becky. For easygoing fifth grader Evan, it's summer school, where he's not only singled out for remedial tutoring, but has accidentally been placed with older middle schoolers with an established pecking order and Reed, a vicious bully, at the top. Unsurprisingly, in short order Jessie has hijacked her class, efficiently leaving Becky on the outside but leading everyone else in a seminar on bridge design and construction (learning along the way to tolerate the occasional toy troll or other nonscientific embellishment). Evan has a harder time as he battles powerful twin urges to stand with classmate Stevie, Reed's favorite victim, or stand by to fit into the established social order. Making the better, if perhaps not safer, choice leads to a climactic brush with disaster…but with some timely help from a surprising source, Reed is ultimately sent packing in a satisfactory way. As before, it's the interplay between Jessie's fierce intellect and Evan's emotional intelligence that resolves issues and boosts this series from good to great. Characters read White. An unusually nuanced exploration of bullying; as perceptive as it is entertaining. (Fiction. 9-13) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.