TOFU AND T. REX

Eighth-grader Frederika Viktoria Murchison-Kowalski and her cousin Hans-Peter are not polar opposites, but they don’t have much more in common than their Polish heritage. Hans-Peter works in his grandfather’s deli in Chicago making sausage and slicing meat; Freddie is a militant Vegan. Hans-Peter would love to study archaeology; Freddie is dedicated to protecting the rights of our animal friends. Due to an accident that turned a protest into a bonfire, Freddie must return to Chicago from her new home in Texas and live with Hans-Peter and Opa, their grandfather. Freddie returns to wacky yet prestigious Peshtigo School, which she attended before moving—the very school to which Hans-Peter is applying. They insult each other and play pranks on each other, but ultimately help one another reach their goals. Alternating as narrators of their story, Freddie is so snarky and Hans-Peter so consciously put-upon that neither is very interesting. Both act more sixth grade than eighth. Urban students of privilege may recognize themselves; fans of the companion volume Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo might enjoy, but the few laughs won’t be enough to hold the reader’s attention. (Fiction. 8-12)