In Grace's fourth book, the third grader and her classmates are passionate about going green. While sneaking in information about recycling and reusing, Harper knows how to keep the story moving. Grace's amusing lists and headlines ("How to Make a Bad Day Worse") will keep her fans entertained. Harper's sketches break up the text, leaving readers time to pause and smile.

It takes about five hundred years for a plastic bottle to break down and disappear into the earth. The facts about conservation will enthrall readers as much as the friends' fun and mischief in this fourth lively chapter book in the Just Grace series. With short, snappy sentences and lots of small black-and-white cartoons, the book features young grade-schoolers' realistic talks about feeling mad, jealous, and happy with classmates and family. Grace is also concerned about pollution and what kids can do about it, and Harper offers specific suggestions, from recycling and decorating plastic water bottles to saving endangered red pandas, switching off the lights at home, and holding a yard sale. Instead of boring arithmetic, Grace wants exciting lessons about how to save the planet, and readers will want them too after finishing this enjoyable read.

Gr 2-4 In this installment in the series, Grace and her friends are learning about recycling. Their teacher, Miss Lois, has challenged the third graders to work in groups and present a project on how to "go green" in some way. Many valuable ideas are presented, such as turning off lights, conserving water, and reusing and recycling. A subplot involves Grace's best friend's cousin coming for an extended stay and the trouble it causes. Narrated by Grace, the story is simple, yet informative and fun. Childlike drawings are interspersed throughout. This is an appealing book for early chapter-book readers. Fans of the series are sure to enjoy it, but it can stand on its own. Michele Sealander, Hamburg School, NJ