For the Ivy and Bean and Clementine crowd, here comes another smart, spunky girl with a great deal of resourcefulness. This new series of beginning chapter books launches with four titles. Texas gal Kylie Jean Carter is more queen than princess--she likes to take charge. Despite her aspirations to be a beauty queen one day, she also takes to heart her mother's advice, "Pretty is as pretty does." In Drama Queen, it's the start of a new school year, and Kylie Jean wants to play the Queen of Hearts in her second grade class's production of Alice in Wonderland. She works on her lines with her family's bull dog, Ugly Brother (whose real name is Bruno), until she memorizes every last one for the tryouts. Unfortunately, the new girl at school, Paula, sets her sights on the same role. Interestingly, the new girl is also a mean girl, and the way Kylie Jean and her friends handle the situation could offer some solutions to other elementary students in a similar boat. Marci Peschke tackles bullying, starting a new school year with a new teacher, and the perseverance it takes to perform well, all in a neatly presented package. Tuesday Mourning's gently cartoonish and predominantly pink artwork reflect the heroine's love of all things queen but also her gutsy nature and stick-to-it-iveness.
In Kylie Jean: Blueberry Queen (9781404866157/ 1404866159), the heroine really does have a run at (junior) beauty queen in her town's summer Blueberry Festival. She enlists the help of her older cousin to help her make a plan, then approaches her maternal grandparents to act as her sponsor ("I could put Lickskillet Farm on ALL my posters. Your farm would be extra famous!") and enlists her paternal grandfather (who "loves to take pictures") to take her photo. Kylie Jean: Rodeo Queen (9781404866188/ 1404866183) takes place during the spring at the Wild West Rodeo, and in Kylie Jean: Hoop Queen (9781404866171/ 1404866175), the heroine's father helps her master basketball by signing her up for the Little Dribblers. This quartet of tales celebrates a Southern heroine whose femininity, intelligence and strength may well inspire other girls.--Jennifer M. Brown