Princess Miranda is clean, organized, and into fancy shoes; chicken-raising, social-justice activist Maude is the complete opposite. Natural differences and misunderstandings make these third graders instant enemies, but after both girls show their empathy, a unique friendship develops. Wunsch tells this series-starting tale of unlikely friendship with plenty of humor and imagination, and the illustrations capture the girls' vastly different worlds with lively detail.

A princess and a self-described social justice advocate compete against and boycott each other until they discover they may be able to help each other if they could just get along.It is the first day of school for Princess Miranda, and she does not want to be there. It smells like hard-boiled eggs (ugh), the principal is too loud, and everyone is whispering about her. Maude, however, loves going to school because she wants to "make sure things are equal for all people," and the only way to do that is to be with "the People." When Princess Miranda rejects Maude's offer of a hard-boiled egg and then refuses the stinky handkerchief Maude extends after a sneeze, Maude thinks the princess is rude. When Maude draws a mean picture of her, Princess Miranda has had enough. She doesn't invite Maude to her royal birthday party, which leads Maude to start a birthday boycott. This series opener is a short and sweet chapter book, decorated with von Innerebner's child-friendly illustrations as well as the drawings that Maude makes in her journal. Wunsch weaves in lessons of empathy and withholding judgment in an accessible, nonpreachy way. She ably captures and expresses feelings of misunderstanding and loneliness, all while creating laugh-out-loud scenes in which the girls ramp up the competition. Miranda is depicted on the cover with brown skin and straight, dark brown hair; Maude has pale skin and a tousled mop of light brown hair.This unlikely combination of royalty and social justice delivers fun, learning, and laughs. (Fiction. 7-10)

Miranda, a quintessential princess, has led an isolated castle life, educated by a -very old royal tutor... who came at noon, napped at one, and left promptly at two.- Now her parents are sending her to school, which Miranda knows she will -absolutely, positively hate.- She-s right: academically, she lags behind the other third graders, who stare and snicker at her, and she gets off on the wrong foot with loner Maude, who roller-skates to school, raises chickens, and aspires to be a social justice advocate. When Miranda excludes Maude from her birthday party, Maude galvanizes her peers to boycott the fete, a move that-in a satisfyingly ironic finale-creates a bond between the princess and non-princess, and each finds her first friend. Von Innerebner (the Ellie Ultra series) includes telling details in the expressive black-and-white illustrations that help limn the differences between the two girls (such as Miranda-s abhorrence of hard-boiled eggs versus Maude-s love of them, thanks to her beloved hens). With a light touch and humor, Wunsch (The Movie Version), launching the Miranda and Maude chapter book series, underscores the value of eschewing stereotypes. Ages 7-10. Author-s agent: Rachel Orr, Prospect Agency. Illustrator-s agent: Kelly Sonnack, Andrea Brown Literary. (Aug.)

Gr 2-4 When Princess Miranda Rose Lapointsetta's royal tutor decides to retire, she must head to school and join the class in 3B. Maude Brandywine Mayhew Kaye is also in 3B and has the luck, or misfortune, of being seated next to her fancy new classmate. The girls soon realize that they are too different to be friends and quickly become enemies. Princess Miranda hates nothing more than hardboiled eggs. Maude is very proud of the chickens she raises with her father and brother at her ramshackle treehouse. The rivalry escalates as the girls passive-aggressively try to tolerate sitting next to each other, and ultimately culminates with Miranda discovering unflattering pictures of herself in Maude's journal, which leads her to not invite Maude to her royal birthday party. At its core, this is a book about feeling different, making uninformed judgments about others, trying new things, and finding acceptance. Simple cartoon-style illustrations are a nice break from the text and add life to the characters. Advanced vocabulary and an overuse of umlauts may confuse and deter brand-new readers and English language learners. VERDICT With so many books available about unlikely friends and understanding people's differences, this is an additional purchase. Erica Deb, Matawan Aberdeen Public Library, NJ