Deborah Zemke

I had a rather meh year last year - just couldn't get excited about the books. But this year, oh, this year is different.

Bea Garcia, welcome to our library. Welcome to all our libraries. We have been waiting for you for so long!

Bea is an artist. She has a best friend named Yvonne. Together they had wonderful adventures. But then Yvonne moved away to Australia and now she's stuck with her little brother the Big Pest (otherwise known as Pablo), a monster next door named Bert, and even her dog show more Sophie is mad at her. Could things get any worse? Yep, they could. She has to go to the first day of school without Yvonne and with the monster and the Big Pest. Bert gets everyone to call her stupid bee names and he sits right behind her in school! It takes some misplaced artistic talent and a clever teacher to get Bea back on track.

Zemke's illustrated notebook novel hits all the right notes for 2nd and 3rd grade readers. Easy text, engaging pictures, a relatable character, smoothly integrated Spanish phrases, it's all here. Plus, Bea does NOT become best friends with Bert and recognize his stellar qualities in the end (but she does decide he's not quite as bad as he seemed at first).

Verdict: Funny, spot-on relatable, and featuring a clearly Hispanic main character. Buy it immediately. Buy extra copies. It's going to fly off your shelves, I guarantee it!

ISBN: 9780803741546; Published 2016 by Dial/Penguin; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library show less

My ultimate conclusion about the Bea Garcia books is that they're great books, kids love them, I'm happy to buy them, but they annoy the heck out of me!

In her fourth adventure, Bea is going along with her normal life, navigating her friendship with super-smart but socially awkward Judith Einstein, ignoring horrible Bert, her next-door neighbor, and hanging out at the 250-year-old oak tree in their playground. But when Bert climbs the tree and throws acorns at them all - and then gets stuck - show more an interfering member of the school board says they have to cut it down for safety reasons! Bea and her friends are devastated, but working together with science, poetry, and art, they save "Emily" their tree. On a trip to the national forest, even Bert gets interested in trees when he meets a pileated woodpecker that looks just like a pterodactyl to him! To placate the school board, a fence is put up around the tree, but they decorate the fence and are satisfied that they've saved their friend. Sketches, doodles, and panels sprinkle the book and make this the perfect choice for young readers who aren't ready for middle grade notebook novels yet.

I can totally see this happening - but it still annoys me! Kids SHOULD be able to climb trees without it turning into a giant production, and although Bea is definitely prejudiced against Bert, he also constantly harasses her and her friends with little to no consequences. So, as I said, these are great books but I want them to end differently! It's ridiculous that they "saved" their tree, only to have to put a fence around it and that Bert continues to constantly disrupt their activities and basically runs the classroom. Alas, this is the real world and most kids will recognize their own classrooms and classmates in this story.

Verdict: My own biases aside, this is a fun series that kids love, with copious illustrations and a gentle, humorous message. Recommended for 1st through 3rd grade.

ISBN: 9780735229419; Published May 2019 by Dial Books for Young Readers; Review copy provided by the publisher; Donated to the library show less

Funny, creative, this ER book caught my interest, and I read it in one sitting. Outside the Emily Dickinson Elementary School, there is a huge tree, so large that Bea Garcia cannot fit it on one page of her drawing paper. As she studies the tree, she notes there are squirrels clutching to the bark. Mischievous, they throw acorns at any one who happens to pass by.

Bea's nemesis Bert is someone she would like the squirrels to pummel. Bea's favorite friend Einstein (so named because she is the show more smartest in the school,) is also enthralled with the tree. Observing a nuthatch, they watch the bird walking upside down. They remark there are a lot of things to love about the tree that they now name Emily, the poet tree.

If she studies Emily carefully, Bea can see the face of Emily Dickinson in etched in the bark. Berk the jerk decides to climb the tree to the highest branches. His behaviour nets a ride in the firetruck bucket as he cannot get down from the heights of Emily, and then takes a giant leap into the bucket.

Now, parents clamour for the tree to be cut down as it could present harm to children. Under the guidance of the teacher and principal, the students rally for Emily to remain right where she is. They learn scientific facts and present them to the school board.

The tree is saved. However, Bea and Einstein are not saved from Bert the jerk.

This is a laugh out loud, witty story! show less

Bea Garcia is back in her third book. By now, readers will know that she is in second grade, loves to draw, is sort-of friends with super-smart Judith Einstein and definite enemies with next-door-neighbor Bert.

In her latest run-in with Bert, Bea and Bert are supposed to interview each other for class. Bea just writes "GRRRR" for all his answers and Bert scribbles untrue things about her, so she crumples up the paper. This gets the two of them in trouble - they have to interview each other's show more families over the weekend. Bert's mom isn't bad, but it turns out that Bert does have a pet... Big Kitty! And Bea's pet dog Sophie, is so scared that she runs away, chased by that mean cat!

Bea is miserable, especially when they find Bert's pet but not hers. But with some help from her friends and family, maybe Sophie will come home after all.

This is a notebook novel for younger readers; 1st-2nd graders are the ideal audience. Zemke's scratchy black and white pictures decorate each page, sometimes taking over a whole spread, sometimes confined in individual panels. Bea is a relatable character; she loves to draw, Spanish phrases and words are sprinkled into the text, she finds her little brother Pablo annoying but still loves him anyways.

As an adult, I find Bert's mean behavior bordering on bullying and the clueless adults, who keep trying to push them together, a little annoying. Yes, sometimes Bea is not as nice as she might be to Bert, but he is really nasty to her! Her parents aren't particularly sympathetic either, trying to make her be "nice" to a kid who's basically pretty nasty. I'd separate them completely instead of trying to make them work together, but I'm not a teacher or a parent.

Verdict: This is a popular series in my library, especially for kids who would like to read popular notebook novels but aren't quite old enough yet. I also appreciate the inclusion of a Latina character.

ISBN: 9780735229389; Published July 2018 by Dial; Review copy provided by the publisher; Purchased for the library show less