Here’s the first book in the promising new Daring Dreamers Club series. That’s Milla in the middle, and the story centers around her quest to go on the annual fifth grade overnight  adventure camp trip. Her moms are a bit protective after a past unfortunate encounter she had with a dog  and her food allergies are always a concern. Milla decides to demonstrate her responsibility in a variety of ways to convince them to sign the permission slip. Not all goes as planned.

Fifth grade also brings about a weekly group meeting with a teacher advisor. Milla is assigned to Ms. Bancroft, the new music teacher. She’s joined by new and old friends Piper, Mariana, Zahra, and Ruby. A diverse group for sure both in ethnicity and interests. After their teacher assigns them to write in a journal and choose a princess they are most like (thus the Disney connection), they decide to name themselves the Daring Dreamer’s Club. Each of their entries is where you get to know each one—their hopes and wishes along with their fears.

This should appeal to princess loving kids, especially those who side with Tiana, Belle, Ariel, Mulan, or Cinderella. It’s also a story without bullies and focuses instead on cooperation and a strong thread of helping each other find the best in themselves. PIPER COOKS UP A PLAN is book #2, but we’ll have to wait until January 2019.

PUBLICATION DATE: 2018   PAGE COUNT: 224

FIVE THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT:

MILLA TAKES CHARGE

1. Diversity—just like you’ll find in most schools.
2. The story would make a great read-aloud for those young princess loving girls who are just entering the world of middle grade books.
3. The journal pages from each of the five characters are spread out over the entire book. A nice way to introduce these young girls. Milla gets a few more entries since this is her story.
4. Friendship is displayed in a variety of ways. It’s what our world needs more of no matter what age you are!
5. The Author’s Notes reveals the author’s princess inspiration along with where the character Ms. Bancroft came from. A much more detailed and welcome background.

FAVORITE LINES (from Milla’s journal page)

Once upon a time, there was a fifth grade girl who loved the idea of exploring. But this poor thing had never actually gone on any kind of real adventure. In fact she had never really been anywhere except her little town.

A ‘DID YOU KNOW’ from  AUTHOR ERIN SODERBERG:

I also write a lot of books for tweens and young adults as Erin Downing! If you would like more information about any of these books, please visit www.erindowning.com.

(For all the other fun books and a lot more about The Daring Dreamers Club visit Erin’s other author web site.)

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Make a comment if you have time. I enjoy reading all of them. Click on the comments link below.