MOLLY MCGINTY HAS A REALLY GOOD DAY

There’s only one problem with organizing one’s entire life in a multi-pocketed three-ring binder: it might get lost. Alas, this is the fate of sixth-grader Molly McGinty, black belt in the art of maximum productivity. Molly has to be organized, because her grandmother/guardian, a talent agent for animals, lives life as if her creativity would be threatened by “paying bills on time, dressing sedately, and dusting.” In fact, the eccentric bon vivant wears purple suede jeans to Senior Citizens’ Day at Molly’s Our Lady of Mercy Middle School, marking the beginning of Molly’s “really good day,” whose highlights include a black eye (dashing to the bus), getting set on fire, and having her hair braided against her will. Molly’s perpetual battle against “widespread fundamental uncertainty” (and everything her grandmother stands for) is hilarious, and children with embarrassing relatives and those with obsessive-compulsive tendencies will understand completely. Early readers will no doubt devour this somewhat slapstick, atypically girl-centric Paulsen offering. (Fiction. 8-11)