Attack of the Not-So-Virtual Monsters (Gamer Squad #1)

Gr 3-6--Best friends Bex and Charlie are excited to spend the summer before middle school searching for monsters. Like most of their town, they're obsessed with the newest app-based game, Monsters Unleashed, where players find and catch virtual monsters on their phones for points. In hopes of finding the rarest beasts, Charlie and Bex visit Charlie's grandpa's attic to pore over old maps, but instead they stumble upon a strange box. When Charlie switches it on, the Wi-Fi goes out...and all of Bex's monsters vanish from her phone, appearing in the real world. Now the two friends are on a mission to catch all 10 monsters before they, and the rest of their town, become monster lunch. Bex and Charlie deal with mean friends, bullying siblings, and nervousness about starting middle school, but character development takes a backseat to plot-driven action. VERDICT Fans of Pokemon Go will enjoy this slim series starter, where a foreseeable plot keeps the action moving at a quick clip.--Kelsey Johnson-Kaiser, St. Paul Public Library