Frankie Sparks and the Class Pet

Ivy and Bean meets Aliens in my Pocket in this start to a brand-new chapter book series about Frankie Sparks, a third grader who uses her love for science and math to help her solve problems she comes across in her daily life.

The best thing EVER is happening in Frankie Sparks’s third grade class: They are getting a class pet! Their teacher, Miss Cupid, tells them they will vote on their pet, but it has to meet some “parameters.” Their pet must:

1. Fit in aquarium.
2. Cost less than $50.
3. Be easily portable.
4. Be able to be left alone for the weekend.

Frankie thinks that a rat—just like the rats in her beloved Aunt Gina’s lab—would be the perfect fit. But her best friend, Maya, doesn’t think a rat would be great at all. They are kind of gross and not as cool as a hermit crab, which is Maya’s top choice. Using her special workshop, can Frankie find a way to convince her teacher and her best friend that Team Rat is the way to go?

Megan Frazer Blakemore is an author for children and young adults. Her middle grade novels include The Firefly Code, The Daybreak Bond, The Friendship Riddle, The Spy Catchers of Maple Hill, and The Water Castle, the latter of which was named a Kirkus Reviews Best Children’s Book of 2013, a Bank Street College Best Book 2014, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and has been included on numerous state lists. Her books for young adults are Good and Gone, Secrets of Truth & Beauty, and Very in Pieces, which was a Junior Library Guild selection. A school librarian, Megan has a BA from Columbia University, and an MLS from Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Megan is currently pursuing her doctorate in library science. She lives in Maine with her husband, two children, two cats, a leopard gecko, and (sometimes) a hive of bees.

Nadja Sarell is an illustrator living in Helsinki, Finland. She graduated with MA in dance from Theatre Academy Helsinki and graduated from North Wales School of Art and Design with BA in illustration for children’s publishing in 2004. Since then she has worked as a freelance illustrator in Finland and abroad. She loves to teach art, illustration, and dance for both children and adults.