The Campaign

Gr 4-7–The self-important, presumptive mayor-to-be plans to cut arts education funding, so seventh grader Maddie leverages her peers’ grassroots action in support of her babysitter’s challenge for the mayoral seat. Sales infuses this civic engagement book with humor, identity angst, and character development, and keeps the story moving forward with a light touch. Underneath the who-will-win momentum, another layer of the story unfolds: Will relatable narrator and social outsider Maddie, who can be really mean and dismissive of her peers, learn to stop being so judgmental? Simple cartoons augment the text throughout, adding levity in the style of popular titles by Rachel Renée Russell and Chris Grabenstein. Lawrenceville is a small, familiar, American town filled with ethnically diverse characters; Maddie is white and middle class.