Despite the fetching portrait of canine Mud on the dust jacket, the star of the latest episode in the Blossom saga isn't really a dog. Rather, Maggie and her boyfriend, Ralphie, garner most of the attention. When Maggie's bossiness impels Ralphie to call her an ogrette (his mother is an ogress), Maggie takes offense. In fact, she's so mad she tells him to get lost. His attempts to change things back to the way they were are filled with rib-tickling humor--as when he calls her on the phone to declare his love only to discover he's talking to her mom. A subplot concerning Mad Mary breaks in here and there. She's disappeared, and the family fears for her safety. Then there's Mud, and Byars knows just how to capture canine curiosity and a wagging tail. She pairs Mud up with spunky Junior for a comic murder trial, a sequence in which Mud's accused of criminal behavior when Junior's hamster-for-the-weekend disappears. Though there's perhaps a mite too much going on (Mad Mary's adventure adds little to the whole, though it may be setting things up for future episodes), the story is certainly great fun, with lots of well-drawn characters to boot. (Reviewed Sept. 15, 1991)

Undaunted by earlier mishaps, that indefatigable inventor, Junior Blossom, continues his search for the absolutely perfect creation. The characters in this series are genuine originals, and Byars deftly plots her narratives in short chapters, each ending in a cliffhanger that leaves her audience pleading for more.

A little like A Midsummer Night's Dream, this fifth romp with the Blossom clan flits lightly from amusing episode to hilarious set scene, the characters mixing, matching, and eventually sorting themselves out. Maggie and Ralphie (who now, with the help of his artificial limb, is bicycle-borne) are having a lovers' spat; old Mad Mary (the Vulture Lady, and Junior's best friend) has disappeared; Junior has the honor of keeping Scooty, the class hamster, for the weekend—but Mud, Pap's dog, seems to have eaten him and is now hiding under the porch while the distraught Junior vows vengeance; and Vern and his friend Michael form a sort of chorus with a perpetual case of uncontrollable giggles that they can quell only by thinking of a real joke. After one of the best trial scenes since Freddy the Detective (1932), with the jury turning out to be the culprit and the victim turning up happily unscathed, all is forgiven with just a few more delightfully comic twists. There's no reason to single out a best Blossom book—this is as funny as any, its wit nicely laced with pungent good sense. (Fiction. 8-12)"