Alley & Rex; Alley & Rex Bite the Bagel by Joel Ross, illustrated by Nicole Miles

 These are two transitional chapter books, the first came out last year and the sequel is being released in September. Alley, a nickname for Alexander Katz, is a sixth grader in a K-8th school and notorious for making bad decisions. Like climbing the flagpole on the first day of school. Or throwing his beard at 7th grade hall monitor Cameron Sykes because he's bugging a fourth grader in a bunny suit. Or coasting down the stairs on cafeteria trays in front of the kindergarteners. But this time it's serious - his parents say if he keeps getting into trouble, they'll send him across town to Steggles Academy, a strict school with a uniform, and he'll have to live part-time with Grannie Blatt, retired lunch lady, ear puller, and determined feeder of calves-foot jelly. Luckily, Principal Kugelmeyer likes Alley and has given him one more chance - get an A on his science final and she'll recommend his parents keep him at Blueberry Hill School.

But Alex has never once gotten an A on, well, anything - even when he makes it to class he's rarely able to concentrate for more than a couple minutes. But the principal has a suggestion - he'll join their peer tutoring program and get a HOST, Helping Other Students Thrive, who will help him pass the science test with an A. There's just one little issue - his HOST is that same fourth grader in a bunny suit (who is, in fact, 7 having skipped two grades) and Alley has a much better idea than studying. He'll break into the teachers' lounge, find the golden keys he overheard them talking about which he's sure are keys to all the tests, memorize them, and ace the test. What could go wrong?

Everything, it turns out. However, despite a series of never-ending catastrophes, bunny-suited Rex's own issues, Alley's friend's Chowder's latest crush, and the mysterious disappearance of the fabled Golden Keyes, Alley's positive attitude and ability to make friends just might pull him through, especially with Rex's super brain power behind him.

In their second adventure, Rex has got a problem of his own - the school is insisting that he wear an official gym uniform and ditch his bunny suit. Meanwhile, the school is dealing with budget issues and has cut the breakfast cart, or supplementary nutrition program. Alley is determined to get the cart back and help his friend, but his attempts to turn old doughnuts from the senior center where his Bubbe live don't go so well, his friend Chowder has a new crush, and his friend Maya's obsession with her online role-playing game may be getting out of control. Can Alley bring the bagels back and save the day?

The covers portray Alley as a white kid with a mop of curly brown hair and a perpetual grin, Rex with brown skin, wire-rimmed glasses, and a blue bunny suit, and the interior black and white illustrations show a quirky cast from Chowder, who falls reliably in love with a new student every few weeks to Alley's influential grandmothers and their very different approaches to life. These illustrations are often in the form of speech balloons and short, one-page comics. Casual interpolations of Jewish culture and tradition are threaded throughout the stories, and many of the other students encountered break stereotypes, like Mouse, a strong, athletic girl with a powerful voice, Chowder, who falls in love with both boys and girls, and Maya and her absorption with gaming.

I find it really hard to make a decision on these stories. On the one hand, I love the inclusion of a contemporary Jewish character, the range of diversity in the characters, and the humor. The short length of the books, a little over 100 pages, is great as well. On the other hand, Alley feels very young for a sixth grader. His continual antics and stream-of-consciousness inability to focus, plus Rex's extremely formal and complex vocabulary, are unrealistic and I find it hard to imagine any school would be so relaxed as to make exceptions to try and keep Alley, especially as on the rare occasions he makes it to class he is doesn't participate, do any homework, or even keep his attention on the subject for more than a few seconds. I'm skeptical that anyone could really be as clueless as he is portrayed - and still be universally popular. From an adult perspective, he would be extremely exhausting to deal with.

Verdict: I think if you're looking for contemporary Jewish representation or humorous beginning chapter books, this could be a good addition. I will probably pass on it for my library at this time because my school is still dealing with that stupid internet thing about kids identifying as animals and so I'm not going to add a book with a kid in a bunny suit. I might save it for a next year, when hopefully people will be obsessing over something else.

Alley & Rex

ISBN: 978-1-534-49543-2; Published September 2021 by Simon and Schuster; Review copy provided by publisher

Alley & Rex bite the bagel

ISBN: 978-1-534-49544-9; Published September 27, 2022 by Simon and Schuster; ARC provided by publisher