Kelsey Green, Reading Queen

Description

Kelsey Kline is the best reader in the third grade - well, maybe tied for best with know-it-all Simon Ellis. When the principal, Mr. Boone, announces a school-wide reading contest - complete with a pizza party for the winning class and a special certificate for the top readers in each grade - she knows she's just the person to lead Mrs. Molina's third graders to victory. But how can they win when her classmate Cody Harmon doesn't want to read anything, and even Kelsey's best friends Annika and Izzy don't live up to her expectations? And could Simon possibly be reading all of those books that he claims he is, or is he lying to steal Kelsey's rightful spot at the top?

Claudia Mills is the author of over 50 books for young readers. To write her books she draws on childhood memories of growing up in New Jersey as well as funny stories her two sons brought home from elementary school and middle school as they grew up in Colorado. She loves to visit schools, where she is always on the prowl for material that can make its way into a chapter book or middle grade novel. Claudia is also a professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado at Boulder, specializing in ethics and political philosophy, who has published many articles on philosophical and ethical themes in children's literature, including essays on the work of Maud Hart Lovelace, Eleanor Estes, Betty MacDonald, Louisa May Alcott, and Rosamond du Jardin.

"This new series shows a lot of promise." --Kirkus Reviews "First in a new series, the chapter book explores Mills's favorite subject--everyday life with a side of ethical examination." --The Horn Book "Sure to be enjoyed by fans of Clementine, Ivy and Bean, and Judy Moody." --School Library Journal