FERNSNICKLE GOES TO WASHINGTON

Depner continues the escapades of young Fernsnickle Hooves in this third installment of an ongoing children’s book series.

Ten-year-old Fernsnickle is a student at the Oasis, a boarding school for girls near Miami. Mrs. Peabody, the school’s head teacher, is taking eight girls from the school, as well as her English cousin’s grandson, Oliver, on a field trip to Washington, D.C. However, despite the book’s title, Fernsnickle doesn’t arrive at the nation’s capital until two-thirds of the way through the book. First, she receives a letter from her friend Toby, who forwards an old missive from Fernsnickle’s mother, Maude Maryellen Hooves, and a photo. Inspired to find her mom, who left her with her grandmother when she was a baby, Fernsnickle appears on a TV show to publicly ask her to contact her; readers know that her mother is an undercover agent for the FBI. In Washington, D.C., the students touch a piece of the moon at the National Air and Space Museum and eat breakfast at the real-life Dog Tag Bakery, which teaches and trains military veterans. Fernsnickle’s classmates decide to hold a pop-up rally at the Capitol where she delivers a speech on bullying, housing shortages, and climate change; disappointingly, however, the speech’s text isn’t included. Overall, the book delivers some fun moments, including a meeting with the president of the United States. Fernsnickle is a likable character with a strong sense of ethics. However, she often uses nonsense rhyming word pairs such as ever and schmever and anyhoo and schmanyhoo, which could either amuse or irritate readers. References to events in previous books could also cause newcomers to feel out of the loop, and although Fernsnickle briefly mentions that she declined to live with her father, it’s not explained why they currently have no contact. Minor characters are thinly developed, so readers may find it hard to picture them.

An enjoyable but somewhat unpolished and unfocused tween adventure.