The Newspaper Club (The Newspaper Club #1)

After her father takes a marketing job in Asia and the city newspaper employing her journalist parents folds, 11-year-old Nellie and her mother move to small-town Maine, much to Nellie’s dismay. Even worse, they take up residence next door to her mom’s best friend and daughter, Min; while gifted, bossy Nellie has always struggled to bond with her peers, she’s not interested in hanging out with Min, who believes the two are fast friends. When the town park is closed after a series of thefts and incidents, and the underresourced local newspaper won’t cover the story, determined Nellie starts her own outlet, The Cub Report, to launch an investigation. Together, the paper’s diverse team—including Thom, who carries around a “bag of smells,” and Min—look into the incidents. En route to the first issue, Nellie learns valuable and well-wrought lessons about cooperation, letting people in, and navigating new circumstances. In this heartwarming series kick-off, Vrabel (The Humiliations of Pipi McGee) offers journalistic hints while shining a light on the plight of the newspaper industry, and prickly Nellie’s grudging willingness to embrace others over the course of the story is earnestly portrayed. Ages 8–12. [em]Agent: Nicole Rescinitti, the Seymour Agency. (Mar.) [/em]