Hereville: How Mirka Met a Meteorite

Eleven-year-old Mirka Herschberg is as disheveled, prickly, competitive, and impulsive as ever in this companion to Deutsch's Hereville (2010). She's both a fish out of water (she dreams of being a sword-wielding dragon slayer) and committed to her Orthodox Jewish faith, family, and community. All of this makes her one of the most original and comically endearing heroines to come down the pike in a long time. The meteorite in the title is actually an alien life form%E2%80%94dubbed "Metty"%E2%80%94that becomes Mirka's reverse doppelganger: a too-good-to-be true twin who's not only neater, defter at dispatching bullies, and better at basketball than Mirka, but also determined to permanently displace her. With unexpectedly effective help from Mirka's family (who are savvier and more accepting than Mirka realizes), her messy personality triumphs over perfection. The drably handsome olive and peach palette provides visual cohesion%E2%80%94an anchor that allows Deutsch's extravagantly chronicled emotions to fly high%E2%80%94while simultaneously making the story's extraterrestrial elements and scenes (colored in bold yellows and blues) all the more magical and alien by contrast. Ages 8%E2%80%9312. Agent: Judith Hansen, Hansen Literary Agency. (Nov.)