Judy Moody Predicts the Future

The fourth book in Megan McDonald's wonderfully goofy Judy Moody series will leave fans wondering whether the most irrepressible third-grader in Class 3T just might have ESP. (That's either Extra Special Powers, or Extra-Special Skink Powers--in the case of skink-hunting with Judy's brother Stink.)

Our soon-to-be-psychic heroine slurps down seven bowls of cereal one morning before finding what she seeks: "A ring! A silver ring with an oogley center. A mood ring!" Testing out her possibly prescient ring-powers, though, requires all sorts of experimentation--and working through some "burnt-toast" black moods before transforming completely into "Madame M for Moody."

Judy remains her ebullient self throughout this fourth installment, despite "a blucky old math-test," a run-in with her self-assured rival from the last book ("Jessica Finch probably ate fractions for breakfast: 1/4 glass of orange juice, 1/2 piece of toast, 3/4 jar of strawberry jelly!"), and a spelling test that doesn't quite produce the grade she predicts. ("Judy didn't see why tor-tee-yah had any l's at all. And zig and zag sure seemed like two words to her. Who wrote this dictionary anyway? Mrs. Merriam and Mr. Webster were going to hear from her.")

But by far the biggest surprise that Judy Moody struggles to predict is what a visit from the mysterious crayon lady Ms. Tater might really mean. And why is Mr. Todd acting so weird? Could her predictions prove prophetic once again? Might there really be little Tater-Todds in her teacher's future? (Ages 6 to 10) --Paul Hughes