Gr 4-6Freddie hates being picked on at school, but there is just no place a six-foot-four sixth grader can hide. Cruelest of all are the three bullies Freddie has dubbed the Monsters. To vent his frustration, Freddie draws cartoon monsters that represent the inner monster of each nemesis. When Freddie and his friend Manny are left alone to clean up the art room after a no-holds-barred paint battle with the Monsters, the two boys seize the opportunity to make 3-D printouts of the mini-monsters from Freddie's drawings. Shockingly, the small pink plastic figurines come to life and immediately escape from the boys' control. Even more problematic is the monsters' disturbing ability to grow to great size when exposed to water. Soon the monsters are wreaking havoc in the school and around town, and the boys need to capture the monsters and minimize the damage. When Freddie and Manny realize that their enemies hold the key to stopping the three creatures, they find themselves teaming up with the very bullies on whom the monsters are modeled. There is no new ground broken in this enemies-become-friends book, but the tentative relationship among Freddie, Manny, and their tormentors is authentic. The initially stereotypical characters (jock, nerd, geek) evolve slowly and exhibit realistic reactions as they learn to work together. The malevolent trio often revert to form, insulting Freddie and even angering the real monsters, before the team finally triumphs. The ending hints at more monster adventures to come. VERDICT Frequent illustrations and a goofy plot make this a good choice for reluctant or emerging readers and fans of Dav Pilkey's "Captain Underpants."Nancy Nadig, Penn Manor School District, Lancaster, PA

A New Mexico middle schooler's incautious use of a mysterious new art-room printer sets off a plague of bad-tempered monsters in this riotous series opener.Inspired by the three bullies who have harassed him unmercifully since his arrival in Gallup, the toy-sized plastic monsters that Freddie Liddle, a white boy, designs not only hop down from the 3-D printer, but absorb water like sponges, swell hugely in size, and lumber off on wildly destructive rampages. "Holy freakin' crudballs!" as his friend Manny Vasquez eloquently puts it. Convinced by Manny's (rather questionable) assertion that it "takes a bully to fight a bully," Freddie resolutely sets out to recruit his tormenters—Jordan the jock (depicted in the illustrations with dark skin), drama queen Nina (black), and "mega-nerd" Quincy (white)—to help neutralize the roaring, superpowered beasts. Kloepfer (Into the Dorkness, 2015, etc.) concocts a mad scramble that Oliver decorates with lurid drawings of toothy, glaring monsters and, to take them on, a squad of kids notable for its comical diversity of body size and shape. Latino Manny (cued by name) and illustrations reflecting skin tone excepted, Gallup's racial and ethnic diversity goes largely unexplored, a particular travesty given that the 40 percent Native American town calls itself "the Indian Capital of the World." By the end the unlikely allies have formed an uneasy bond, with shrunken but still active monsters in their backpacks and a printer that Freddie has cannily hidden in his locker to set up sequels. Gives 3-D printing a whole new dimension (just add water). (Fantasy. 9-12)