Jo Jo Makoons

Jo Jo is a vivacious kiddo living on a fictional Ojibwe reservation. She has her home best friend (a cat) and her school best friend (a fellow student). Chaos ensues when she brings her home best friend with her to school, and eventually she learns the importance of being friendly to everyone, even if you aren't friends with everyone. I think kids will appreciate Jo Jo's spunk and her imperfections, such as thinking her gym teacher is named Jim. She's definitely a relatable and funny character in the tradition of Junie B. Jones. There did seem to be one or two too many classmate characters, though, and it was a little tricky to keep track of them all, even as an adult. Still, I will definitely be recommending this one to the early chapter book set. Periodic illustrations make this even more appealing.