May 1, 2016
Gr 4-6-All Cleo wants is for everyone to be friends again. After the events of The Popularity Spell, her former best friend Samantha is friends with a new group of girls. Cleo has a new pal whom she is getting to know better, and she's lucky to have the support of Larry, her best guy friend. Cleo schemes to get everyone's friendship back on track with the help of a love potion mysteriously sent from her odd uncle from New Orleans. When things don't go the way they should, Cleo's plans start to fall apart. The second book in the series is full of the same charm and fluffy middle school antics that readers of the previous volume enjoyed. Gallagher provides enough background from the first book so new readers will not have any problems jumping in. Cleo's single father, who is trying to get back in the dating game while raising a child, is realistic. The presence of a long-talked-about but little-seen character in the end leaves room for further installments in this "charm"-ing series.
Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2016
When Cleo's eccentric uncle sends her a love potion, the eleven-year-old attempts to win back her exbest friend Sam by giving the concoction to both Sam and Sam's crush. But her plan has its hiccups, and Sam's crush turns his attention toward Cleo instead, setting in motion a series of amusing misunderstandings. This lighthearted story successfully captures the essence of middle-school relationships.
(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)