Regina the Recess Genius is solving her classmates' problems again, this time in one fell swoop.It takes a lot of thinking to puzzle out the solution to Aimee's problem. Aimee is planning a talent show, but no one has signed up. Several other kids come to Regina with their troubles: Kennedy feels overshadowed by attention-grabbing Bella, James doesn't know how to tell his soccer teammates that he also takes ballet, and Michael frets about being able to make it to a far-off bathroom. Regina decides that the talent show can solve everyone's issues. The prizes are just what her classmates need: recognition, money (so James can buy his teammates a new ball), and the "Hall Pass of Hall Passes." But while Aimee's show is a rousing success for her, the prizes end up with the wrong students. That's when Regina's talent kicks in. Michael's problem seems like one an adult should be involved in solving, and buying his teammates' affection hardly seems like the ideal solution to James' issue. Still, the Recess Genius isn't portrayed as the introvert bookworm she was in the first book; instead, she takes a far more active role. In the cartoon images, Regina and her classmates show tons of personality. Regina, Bella, and Kennedy present white, James and Aimee are brown-skinned, and Michael appears Asian.A more satisfying outing for our hero than her previous one. (Picture book. 4-8)

Gr 1–2— The Recess Genius is back in a new picture book for emerging readers. Regina Grey, aka the Recess Genius, is the resident problem-solver of her school. No problem is too big or small. When Regina is asked to solve a problem involving the lack of sign-ups for the school talent show, she employs her amusing abilities to take on the big picture as well as the students' smaller ones. The result is not exactly what she'd anticipated, but Regina does find a way to make everyone, including careful readers, happy. The font used here is small, but the repeated use of the same words, designed to give confidence to beginning readers, will keep children on track. The cartoon-style artwork has a sort of doodled vibe but is in full support of the story. VERDICT Give to readers who are not quite ready for Junie B. Jones and her antics. — Maria Graybosch