Horn Book Review

(Primary) Romantic Babymouse, in her fifth graphic novel for younger readers, here finds her confidence shaken by the impending Valentine's Day dance at school. Our imaginative heroine still indulges in plenty of her trademark pink-hued fantasies (including a continuation of ""Babymouserella"" from the first book -- ""I never...made it to the dance last time!""), but finding a date proves less than fairy tale-like. Waiting around to be asked doesn't work, and neither do pathetic attempts to ingratiate herself with various boys, so Babymouse turns to beauty magazines for advice: ""This article guarantees I'll be 'unforgettable' to boys. I'll get asked to the dance in no time!"" Babymouse's desperation comes through loud and clear, as do the Holms' valuable and never-too-early messages of self-respect and self-worth. As in the previous books, the text and illustrations successfully differentiate between reality and daydreams, and there's a good amount of humor injected into both (the banter between Babymouse and the disembodied narrator is especially entertaining). Finally, after a dark night of the soul, Babymouse decides to go stag -- ""I can do that?"" -- which, while not easy, leads to a satisfying real-life fairy-tale ending. The audience doesn't need to get the passing reference to Dirty Dancing to agree that ""nobody puts Babymouse in the corner!"" (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.