Revver the Speedway Squirrel

The author of Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site and its offshoots makes her middle grade debut in this series launch introducing a squirrel mesmerized by the zooming vehicles populating the racetrack below his family nest. Despite Revver’s need for speed, the story gets off to a poky start, given undue repetition of that fact as well as lengthy dialogue that establishes the squirrel siblings’ personalities. Only insightful Sprite—the sole female sibling, saddled alongside their mother with emotional labor in the form of caretaking and peacemaking—encourages her brother to pursue his dream of joining the human-only speedway pit crew, while constantly-in-motion Bounce and incessant eater Farty spend their days living up to their monikers. With a boost from spry cartoons by Willan (the Jasper & Ollie series), which comically capture Revver’s spunk, the novel’s pace picks up after he ventures into the track, where he befriends the mixed-gender pit crew and learns the mechanics of car racing. There he at last feels understood, learns the importance of teamwork and the value of family, and—after his curiosity and impulsiveness recurrently trigger mayhem—uses life lessons he’s absorbed to save the day. A sweet if sometimes overly descriptive tale. Ages 8–11. Author’s agent: Lori Kilkelly, LK Literary. (Sept.)