Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Though vivacious third grader Millie likes to think she's the boss, she knows that the real person in charge is her mother, the mayor of Washington, D.C.--and her mother's assistant Josephine, who stepped in to help following Millie's father's death years ago, much to Millie's dismay. Josephine has too many rules, such as exiling Millie's chicken, Extra Crispy, to sleep in a coop instead of Millie's room. But Millie has bigger problems than Josephine's regulations. At school, bully Buckley taunts Millie and her friends relentlessly. So when Millie learns that she and her mother will compete against Buckley and his father on Field Day, Millie's favorite day, she's devastated. Mom encourages her to stand up to Buckley, but when Millie takes this advice too far, she ends up in hot water with the principal. Worse, Josephine must act as her partner when Mom is too busy to participate. But both Josephine and Buckley have a few surprises in store in this charming series kickoff by Mazique (Delphine Denise and the Mardi Gras Prize), confidently narrated by Millie and complemented by energetic b&w illustrations from Glenn (Bella Ballerina). Millie is Black; supporting characters are racially diverse. Ages 5--8. (Dec.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2--4--Millie Magnus is a self-assured third grader with her own unique style and pet chick, Extra Spicy. When she and her friends are faced with a school bully named Buckley, Millie is able to turn to her nanny and her widowed mother for help. When Millie seeks her mother's advice, racism is touched upon in reference to voters (her mom is the mayor of Washington, D.C.). Millie, her mother, and nanny are Black. Buckley is specifically bullying Millie and friends about Family Field Day. Readers will commiserate with Millie as she struggles, first when her mother can't attend field day, and then when Nanny Josephine is injured, leaving Millie without a partner in the three-legged race against Buckley. Glenn's excellent grayscale artwork creates white space on pages in early reader style and brings Millie's story to life. VERDICT A cute social-emotional read for kiddos. Pair with Doreen Cronin's "Chicken Squad" series for more lively fun.--Sarah Sieg
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Voluble third grader Millicent Magnus Miller makes her series debut. Dubbed "quirky" by her mother (an assessment readers will likely agree with), Millie narrates her own well-paced story in a flow of verbiage she often has trouble stemming. She is "the boss" but defers to her mom, who happens to be the mayor of Washington, D.C. Mayor Maude's a single parent (Millie's father is dead), but her assistant, Josephine Draper, adds more rules, like insisting that Millie's pet chick, Extra Spicy, live in the coop outside. Millie and her "bestest friends," Lunchbox, Poppy Anne, and Atticus, also face a sneaky, name-calling bully, Buckley. (Mazique drops an early clue: Only recently has Buckley "become so mean.") Other conflicts involve Millie learning she can't take Extra Spicy to the school's Family Field Day and competing against Buckley in the three-legged race. It strains credulity somewhat that both teacher and principal fail to get Millie's side of the bullying story, but Mazique gives Millie a relatable awareness of her struggles with impulse control, like "not being quiet and not sitting in my seat." Eventually things improve in a teachable turnaround that's a bit abrupt but still moving. Glenn's realistic cartoon-style drawings portray Mille, her family, the principal, and Atticus as Black; the teacher, Poppy Anne, and Buckley as white; and Lunchbox as East Asian. A new series starring a whimsical protagonist certain to endear herself to readers.(Chapter book. 6-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
