Agatha Parrot and the Odd Street Ghost

Originally published in the U.K. in 2014 and newly illustrated by Hargis, this series kickoff introduces Agatha Parrot, who has a personality as exuberant as her fuzzy nest of hair. Along with her closest friends, Agatha attempts to figure out why the bell atop their school is clanging too many times. Nervous Ellie is certain that a ghost is responsible—and then one is spotted. The jittery, Ed Koren–esque energy of Hargis’s black-and-white artwork dovetails nicely with Agatha’s chatty, irreverent narration (of the school’s strict vice principal, “She’s got glasses like TV screens, and she wears hairy clothes, and she thinks everything in the world is unsafe”), as well as the lightly spooky ghost talk, pranking, and other shenanigans that populate the story. Ages 7–10. [em]Illustrator’s agent: Jennifer Rofé, Andrea Brown Literary. (July) [/em]