Weakly Readers

The mother/daughter Bush author tag team worked it almost up to Jenna’s wedding, but America’s paper of record is unimpressed.

“Whom is this book supposed to convince, and of what? Leaving aside that part of the base who will find the conjuring of ghosts and dragons deeply suspicious, kids who already understand how stories work will see that this one doesn’t, and kids who don’t like stories won’t be persuaded otherwise. … The point is laboriously made, the teachers’ names are dorky, the plot is hectic and the suspense and dialogue are artificial. What child today says “pesky”?”