Four Titles that are Better Than Operation Bunny

Premise: Emily Vole was joyfully adopted after she was discovered abandoned in a hat box. But now that her parents have triplets of their own, Emily is relegated to housekeeper and nanny. When a pair of keys, found at a neighbor's house, comes to life, Emily finds herself embroiled in a fairy tale detective's case like no other.

Title: Operation Bunny
Author: Sally Gardner
Length: 185 pages
Genre: Mystery
Series or Stand Alone: Book 1 of 3 (so far) in the Wings & Co series
Content appropriate for: Grades 3-5
Format: Digital ARC provided by Macmillan's Children's Publishing via netgalley.com

Three adjectives that describe this book: fun, amusing, surprising

What a fun story! It reminded me of Matilda in some ways - Emily's parents are much like the Wormwoods and Emily is a smart, go-getter much like Matilda. Of course, Matilda didn't rescue some interesting fairies from an evil witch who was turning people into bunnies.

To give you a better sense of this book, let's try on some different titles that are less ridiculous.

* Emily Vole and the Attic Treasure ~ A pair of keys is found in the attic... that's what starts all the craziness.
* Emily Vole and the Magic Lamp ~ A lamp has been killing fairies, and Emily has to find it.
* Harpella versus the Magic Keys ~ This one alludes to the adventure element. An enemy must be vanquished!
* Attack of the Pink Bunnies ~ Okay, this one is just as silly as the original and a bit like that Killer Tomatoes movie, but I still like it better.

Clearly I don't get paid to make up book titles, but I fear that Operation Bunny is a title that will turn older middle graders away from this excellent novel. Maybe my titles give you a better idea of how fun it is.

4 stars