Frankie Sparks and the class pet by Megan Frazer Blakemore, illustrated by Nadja Sarell

[Originally published June 2019]

Frankie loves science and research and she's always got lots of ideas! So why won't her teacher and friends listen to her when she decides the best pet for their classroom is a rat?

The story begins with Frankie barely able to contain her excitement to share what she did over the weekend - visit her aunt, a rodentologist at a nearby university. She learned so many exciting and interesting things about rodents and especially about rats, that she just can't wait to tell everyone!

When their teacher, Ms. Cupid, tells them her exciting news - they are getting a class pet - Frankie knows the perfect pet would be a rat! She hardly listens to their teacher tell them the rules and limitations and the next day she's ready to get that rat, but Ms. Cupid just won't let her go ahead.

With the gentle guidance of adults, from her teacher to her parents to her aunt, Frankie slows down, does her research correctly, and even figures out a clever way to feed the rat over the weekend. But can Frankie figure out a way to convince her best friend, Maya, that a rat makes a good pet? And can Frankie get her rat and be a good friend too?

It's easy to see that Blakemore has actual school experience; one of my perennial complaints is books that show unrealistically small class sizes and this once clearly states there are 20+ kids in Frankie's class. I also appreciated that Frankie is good at making things and doing research, but struggles with actual reading and writing and readers can see how her teacher and parents help her work on those skills. Frankie's enthusiasm, which leads her to hurt her friends' feelings and sometimes overpower her, and other students, is dealt with kindly but firmly by adults and on top of this being a funny, interesting story it would make a great classroom read to talk about empathy and listening to other people.

Verdict: At just over 120 pages, this is perfect for chapter readers who can't yet handle the heftier books but still want something that doesn't talk down to them. Teachers and parents will appreciate the problem-solving suggestions included in the book and the back matter, and kids will see themselves and their friends in the light-hearted story of scientific - and personal - problems. With a diverse, realistic classroom and a main character of color, this book hits all the high points and is sure to be a popular acquisition for your library.

Revisited: The fourth book in this series was published in 2020; I hope that it will continue, as it definitely fills a niche and is still popular at my library.

ISBN: 9781534430433; Published June 2019 by Aladdin; ARC provided by publisher; Purchased for the library