Review: Beatrice Zinker, Upside Down Thinker: Incognito

 

Disclosure:  I received an advance e-copy of  this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a review.  This post may contain Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission if you purchase an item from an affiliate.

 

Beatrice Zinker, Upside Down Thinker: Incognito by Shelley Johannes

Release date:  September 18, 2018

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Age range: 7-10 years

Page numbers: 224 pages

Series:  Book 2 in the Beatrice Zinker series

 

Synopsis:

Beatrice Zinker’s top-secret plan, Operation Upside, is finally in full swing! And she’s REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IT! But when Beatrice impulsively awards her teacher, Mrs. Tamarack, an UPSIDE of her own-with the words Most Strict lettered in gold-the team has to put the entire mission on hold to avoid suspicion.
Lying low isn’t exactly Beatrice’s strong suit . . . and her classmate Wes desperately needs to be recognized. When Wes’s certificate falls into the wrong hands, Beatrice and her best friend, Lenny, must find a way once again, to save Operation Upside-and themselves-from big trouble.

 

 

Review:

I read the first book in the series to my son at the beginning of this year and we loved it!  You can read my review of that one.  We were really excited to read the second book and had a lot of fun with it again.  It is longer than the first book, and much longer than most books I read aloud with my 5 year old, so it took us awhile to get through it, but even my two year old liked sitting down to read with us.  The frequent and entertaining illustrations were very helpful!

I thought this was a great follow-up book.  It picked up where the first left off while adding some new elements and further development.  Some aspects were still above my 5 year old’s understanding (and will be perfect for a bit older kids!), but there were enough undercover operations to keep him interested.

Once again, I was totally invested in the story and was not reading the book only for my kids’ sake.  I loved the ‘incognito’ theme that was spread throughout the story as it was both fun as well as having a deeper importance.  I thought the book was a great balance of clever and meaningful as it delved into understanding other’s feelings and motivations.  There were so many great elements of friendship, empathy, and observation.  This book was an encouragement to notice people around you and how they might be feeling and I think that is such a great message for kids!  I highly recommend this series!

 

 


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