Nikki and Deja

June 15, 2011

Best friends Nikki and Deja are back in a tale of school elections and friendship.

Confident Deja is excited when Ms. Shelby tells the class that third graders will be allowed to run for student-body president, imagining herself in the role and doing everything she can to make it happen. Nikki is worried about the silent treatment her parents are giving each other, but Deja can only see as far as the election and appoints the reluctant Nikki as her campaign manager. After she insults Nikki, Deja is on her own to make posters and write the speech that has to be delivered in front of the whole student body. Deja's self-absorption threatens to take over this slight story, making Deja less and less likable as the story progresses. It's hard to see why Nikki remains friends with bossy Deja. She forces Nikki to hide forbidden candy; she tattles to her teacher about every little thing; she only thinks of herself. When Deja flubs her poorly conceived speech, though, Nikki steps in to help with the last day of the campaign, pumping a little life into it. Freeman's occasional black-and-white illustrations capture the dramatic tension between the girls and Deja's terror as she faces the microphone.

While beginning chapter books with African-American characters are rare and usually welcome, this particular installment in a usually sunny series falls flat. (Fiction. 6-9)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

July 1, 2011

Gr 1-3-Deja desperately wants to be student body president of Carver Elementary. Ready to pull out all the stops, the third grader immediately enlists her friend Nikki as her campaign manager. Soon Deja is consumed with the idea of winning, even if that means browbeating classmates into choosing her or baking 140 cookies that say "Vote 4 Deja." It doesn't even occur to her that Nikki could use her friendship, as her mom and dad are fighting. Can Deja gain control of her competitive ways or will she be her own greatest obstacle in winning the election? Deja is a confident and smart character, but her inability to be a good friend is never resolved. The occasional full-page black-and-white illustrations add a nice touch, especially when Deja is delivering her speech to the class; this particular picture captures her first thread of uncertainty and self-doubt perfectly. Consider for purchase if the series circulates.-Elizabeth Swistock, Jefferson Madison Regional Library, Charlottesville, VA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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.

January 1, 2012
Deja decides to run for student body president with a reluctant Nikki as her campaign manager. The story arc is familiar--the best friends come to odds in all the expected ways before reconciling--but the book's ending is realistic (and somewhat surprising). Occasional black-and-white illustrations reflect the friends' personalities.

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