Nikki and Deja

December 10, 2007
In her first chapter book, English (Francie
) perceptively explores the undercurrent of insecurity and rivalry that threaten two African-American girls’ friendship. When Antonia moves into the neighborhood and tries to boss two best friends around, Deja elects to start a drill club and pointedly not invite the new girl. But when Nikki messes up at drill club tryouts, she anticipates rejection and hooks up with Antonia, who proposes an exclusionary club of their own. The plot is secondary to the authentically rendered backdrops of sidewalk games, the third-grade classroom and Saturday morning TV-watching. Better still are the author’s careful tabs on the daily fluctuations in the girls’ emotional lives: “She hadn’t meant to say that.... And since she can’t put the words back into her mouth, she’s glad she’s in front of her house because then she gets to stomp up her stairs and slam the door behind her.” More probing than many chapter books, this title delivers the satisfaction of a full-length novel. Final art not seen by PW
. Ages 6-10.

February 1, 2012
Third grade continues to be a series of ups and downs for best friends Nikki and Deja. Their beloved teacher, Ms. Shelby, is getting married. The excitement reaches a new high when she announces two last-minute guest cancellations and says she would like two students to attend. She draws names out of a hat, and Nikki and Deja are chosen "fair and square." The rest of the class is jealous but soon moves on to invent a classroom contest to see which team can create the best imaginary wedding. Meanwhile, Nikki and her mother revel in finding a dress and the perfect panini press, while Deja worries about Auntie Dee's new jobless status and fears what a homemade dress might look like. This entry in the series has a serious credibility problem: While wedding fever would certainly spread through a classroom, it's hard to imagine a teacher actually choosing just two students to attend her wedding. Though English gets at some of the sniping that occurs in school, that ugliness threatens a hostile takeover of her story. When the girls finally get back together, it is too quickly resolved. Readers of this series will long for some character development; it would be nice to see the girls grow more empathetic along the way. (Fiction. 7-10)

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July 1, 2012
Wedding mania sweeps the class, but Nikki and Deja are chosen as the only two students to attend their teacher's nuptials. Meanwhile, when Deja's aunt loses her job, the girls have a falling out as Deja worries about money. In their fifth book, the girls' complicated friendship continues to ring true. Nicely shaded black-and-white illustrations help bring the story to life.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

February 15, 2012
Grades 1-3 In the continuing adventures of Nikki and Deja, these two African American friends win the chance to attend the wedding of their beloved third-grade teacher. There are grumblings from classmates whose names weren't picked out of the box, but the girls' biggest problems are with each other. English manages to convey both the trials that best friends sometimes put each other through as well as how easy it can be to get the relationship back on track. A former teacher herself, English fondly depicts these tried-and-true dynamics. Freeman's black-and-white illustrations (not completed for review) should add further appeal.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)