Judy Moody, Book Quiz Whiz

Megan McDonald's Judy Moody, Book Quiz Whiz is a funny, bookish story for 7 year olds about a brother and sister cramming for the biggest quiz of their lives.

What happens

Judy and her little brother Stink are both on the Virginia Dare Bookworms. In one week they're up against a school team called the Bloodsucking Fake-Mustache Defenders (no, really). The winners take home a trophy that lights up.

So the Moody house goes book mad. Judy reads upside down because Pippi Longstocking does it. Stink covers his superhero cape in sticky notes and calls it the Cape of Good Answers.

Who hasn't tried sneaking a book under the table at dinner? Judy does, and Dad threatens to rip out the last page so she'll never know how it ends (he's joking, mostly).

Then things start to wobble. Judy's go at speed-reading leaves her with no clue what she's just read. At practice, with no cape allowed, Stink's mind goes blank every time it's his turn. The day before the quiz he's in bed with a nervous tummy.

And then the really big news arrives. The other team has a girl from the school year above Judy's, and everyone says she eats books for breakfast.

It's Judy's usual chaos, with LOTS of Stink. Her speed-read version of The Princess in Black turns into flying goats and magic toenail clippings, and it's very hard not to giggle along with Stink.

The best bit is probably the books themselves. The story is packed with real ones, like Charlotte's Web, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Borrowers.

If your reader knows a few of them, they'll love shouting out answers before the Bookworms can. Some are American favourites that might be new here (which just means a longer list of things to read next).

Stink's freeze will feel familiar to any child who's ever gone blank in a spelling test. The friends' fixes are lovely too. Tap your nose. Picture your notes. Have a word with your tummy ache.

Plenty of old friends from earlier Judy Moody books turn up, like Frank Pearl, Jessica Finch and Mr Todd. The story works fine on its own though, and the quiz is a proper nail-biter.

What to read next

If Stink ends up stealing the show for your reader, he has books of his own. In Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Kid he's the shortest boy in his class and convinced he's getting even shorter.