Ghost Diamond! Zombie Cows!

Gr 2—4—Amelia may look like a mild-mannered grade schooler with hipster sunglasses and a heavy backpack, but in reality she is a secret agent with enough gadgets to rival McGuyver and an imagination that puts Harriet the Spy to shame. Her plan is to save the world from evil geniuses and criminal masterminds, and she always succeeds. In each easy chapter book, she solves three cases that center on some bizarre doings. If there's a guy at the garden store raising mutant weeds, then a little herbicide will remedy the situation. If a couple is getting ready to rob a bank using an army of cats, then the yarn from an unraveled sweater will solve that problem. The child even manages to get the better of her nemesis, popular girl Trudy Hart. And the only one who gets even close to thwarting Amelia is her mom, who is just a little too curious about what her daughter lugs around in such a large backpack and why she appears rather friendless. These imaginative books will appeal to readers with a quirky sense of humor and might also find fans with readers of Dave Keane's "Joe Sherlock, Kid Detective" (HarperCollins).—Kathleen Meulen Ellison, Sakai Intermediate School, Bainbridge Island, WA