The Monster Detector (Big Foot and Little Foot #2)

Sasquatch Hugo and human Boone deal with monsters, stereotypes, and cultural misunderstandings in the follow-up to Big Foot and Little Foot (2018). . . The sasquatch humor and heroes' earnestness make for a compelling story with natural flow, and the turnabout scenarios in which white Boone operates as a minority among the sasquatches are thoughtfully done. A lovely story of using empathy to work through culture clashes.

Gr 2-4--Hugo and Boone are back. Hugo, Boone's best friend (who also happens to be a sasquatch), attends the Academy for Curious Squidges. He is pleasantly surprised, as are all the other young sasquatch, when Boone joins their class. This move gives Boone and Hugo an opportunity to spend every day together and talk about their future as cryptozoologists, searching for and understanding monsters and other legendary creatures. One day, Boone shares some of his monster cards with the others in class and they come upon a card with a less-than-positive description of a Sasquatch. When Boone is unsuccessful at apologizing to everyone for the way humans portray sasquatch, he is left with no other choice than to run away from school. Worried about Boone, Hugo follows him out of the classroom, and the two of them then find themselves in a situation that can prove to all the other squidges that when a sasquatch and a human work together, they can solve anything. Potter has once again penned a winner with this sequel to Big Foot and Little Foot. She includes just the right amount of adventure and excitement to keep children engaged and wanting to know what happens next. Her characters are believable and enchanting. The illustrations are simple but illuminating. VERDICT A successful installment in a delightful series about friendship and embracing differences in others.--Davia Schmidt, Queens Public Library, NY

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