WHEN MULES FLEW ON MAGNOLIA STREET

Following up Maniac Monkeys on Magnolia Street (1998), Johnson rejoins Charlie and her friends, Lump and Billy, for more neighborhood comings, goings, and hijinks. From wet and sloppy horseplay on a fishing expedition and the arrival of a new neighbor who can make his daughters disappear in a puff of smoke (he’s a professional magician, as it turns out), to planting a flower garden with a new friend, and making an old man laugh by swinging a model of his beloved mule past his hospital window, readers will recognize familiar relationships and intriguing activities. Casting three of these seven easy-reading episodes as letters to and from summer camp, Johnson creates a sunny suburban world where pleasant surprises lurk behind every corner. Middle readers will find Magnolia Street well worth repeat visits. (Fiction. 9-11)