SPIRIT WEEK SHOWDOWN by Crystal Allen is the first book in the new Magnificent Mya Tibbs series for middle grade readers.
Mya and her best friend Naomi plan to win the Spirit Week partners competition. However when Mya is reluctantly paired with Mean Connie Tate, her hopes for winning VIP tickets to the Fall Festival quickly disappear. This authentic, endearing story explores many kinds of friendships and what it means to be a friend.
Librarians will find this charming and often humorous book to be a hit with fans of the classic Ramona books as well as more recent series such as Ivy and Bean. What makes this book timely is the way it handles the topic of diversity. Rather than being a focus of the story, Mya just happens to be a black girl in a diverse cast of characters living in Texas.
Middle grade readers will be clamoring for the next book in what is sure to be a popular friends and family series.
To learn more about the author, go to http://www.crystalallenbooks.com/.
Published by Balzer & Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins on January 26, 2016. ARC courtesy for the publisher.
