A FEW BICYCLES MORE

Revelations, rescues, and family issues challenge 12-year-old Bicycle and her unusually gifted wheels.

Only a month after the life-changing cross-country spin detailed in The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle (2018), a chance encounter leads to new exploits for the pedal-pushing preteen—starting with the stunning discovery that she is one of a set of identical quintuplets. Having been misplaced years before and raised as a solitary foundling by clerics of the Mostly Silent Monastery and the Nearly Silent Nunnery, Bicycle (or, now, Euphemia) finds herself struggling with family life, particularly as her mom, already overprotective in the wake of losing one child, has turned even more helicopter-y. This becomes a problem when Bicycle’s beloved bike, Wheels of Fortune 713-J, which has enough features to give high-tech a whole new dimension, announces that four kindred two-wheelers developed by the same maverick inventor are about to be scrapped and need rescuing now. Fortunately, Bicycle’s sibs turn out to be kindred (if stifled) spirits who are used to working as a team, so the stage is set for a bumpy, exhilarating race against time and, ultimately, a liberating journey. Uss again assembles a cast of terrifically engaging human characters, mostly defaulting to White. Others are just as distinctly individual despite getting about on wheels or even, in the case of an enigmatic but surprisingly helpful tuxedo cat, paws.

A heady rush of girl power paced by the delights both of biking and bringing out the best in oneself and others.