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<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>Ellie May really wants to be funnier than the class clown on April Fools' Day, however her enthusiasm turns the day into a bit of a disaster--but maybe remembering the best kind of humor and her own strengths can turn things around.<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><b>How far will Ellie May go for a laugh--and a little revenge--when her class is allowed to celebrate April Fools' Day?</b> <p/>Quirky and funny second grader Ellie May can't believe her class is allowed to celebrate April Fools' Day--so long as it's done in good fun. She absolutely loves the idea of targeting a certain someone--the practically perfect Ava. Practicing on her parents and sisters, Ellie May begins to brainstorm harmless pranks. Soon enough, good intentions turn the classroom and her home upside-down when fake ants, trick tape, and hidden surprises don't go as planned. Ellie May may not be perfect like Miss-Know-it-All Ava, or calm and rational like her best friend Lizzy, but she's good-hearted and eventually realizes that the best trick is to make friends genuinely laugh--at no one's expense.<p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br>Second-grader Ellie May is a live wire with a good heart and less good impulse control. In Ellie May on Presidents' Day, she's desperate for her chance to be class flag leader, but when she tries to impress her teacher with her devotion to George Washington-style honesty, she ends up insulting her classmates instead. In Ellie May on April Fools' Day, our heroine is jealous of Mo, the class funny guy, and wants to pull off a great prank herself; unfortunately, she takes things too far. Ellie May is a sympathetic heroine in her yearning for recognition ("Mo's funny. Ava is smart. You're artsy. I just want to be something too"), and the episodic chapters make for approachable and humorous early reading. Spirited, cartoonish black and white art has an appropriately chaotic edge in its interpretation of Ellie May's diverse classroom and mixed-race family. Since the relevant holiday gets decent coverage in each book, this offers the possibility for solid curricular use as well as an amiable new series friend. <br>--<i>The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Book</i><br><p/><br></br><p><b> About the Author </b></p></br></br>Hillary Homzie has written several books for tweens, including <i>Things Are Going to Get Ugly</i>, <i>The Hot List, </i> and <i>Queen of Likes </i>for Aladdin Books of Simon & Schuster. She lives in Napa, California, with her family. <p/>Jeffrey Ebbeler has illustrated more than forty picture books, including <i>Melvin the Mouth </i>and <i>Tiger in My Soup</i>. He has worked as an art director, done paper engineering for pop-up books, created large scale murals for schools and churches, and sculpted puppets. www.jeffillustration.com

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