Nixie Ness: Cooking Star

Best friends Nixie and Grace spend every afternoon together . . . until Nixie's mom gets a new job and Nixie must attend the after-school program, without Grace.

Third graders Nixie Ness and Grace Kenny have been best friends since they were two-years-old. They have always spent every afternoon after school at Nixie's house until Nixie's mom announces that she has a job, which means she won't be there to watch the girls after school, which means Nixie will have to go to the after-school program and Grace will be spending her afternoons at their classmate, Elyse's, house.

Nixie begrudgingly starts the after-school program, joining the cooking camp. And it turns out that the other children at cooking camp are nice, and the recipes they make are delicious. But Nixie can't really enjoy being an after-school superstar until she finds a way to overcome her jealousy about Grace and Elyse's budding friendship.

Perfect for fans of Judy Moody, Ivy and Bean, and Clementine, this new chapter book series features recurring characters, and each book will highlight one activity they do at their after-school program. The books are illustrated in black and white and include a bonus activity that corresponds to the book's plot. Nixie Ness: Cooking Star features a recipe for morning glory muffins. The next book in the After-School Superstars series, Vera Vance: Comics Star, is scheduled for release in Spring 2020.

Claudia Mills has written many children's books, 7 x 9 = Trouble!, the Franklin School Friends series, and the Mason Dixon series, among other chapter books and books for middle-grade readers. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Grace Zong has illustrated many books for children, including Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas by Natasha Yim, Pippa and Percival, Pancake and Poppy: Four Peppy Puppies by Deborah Diesen, and Mrs. McBee Leaves Room 3 by Gretchen Brandenburg McLellan. She divides her time between South Korea and New York.