Jo Jo Makoons: The Super-Scary Sleepover (Jo Jo Makoon, #5) by Dawn Quigley, Tara Audibert
ISBN: 0063315629
Genres: Cultural / Native American, Family, Juvenile Fiction / Social Themes / Friendship
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads

The Super-Scary Sleepover is book 5 in Dawn Quigley’s JoJo Makoons series. The series follows JoJo, a spunky Ojibwe first grader who loves her cat, her family, and her friends. In this illustrated chapter book, JoJo proves to herself that she is brave when she is invited to her first sleepover. JoJo is afraid (or as it is described in the book, her “eyebrows are up”) because one of her friends told her that puppets steal children’s eyes at night. That combined with being away from her cat and her family would be enough to shake most kids, but JoJo’s Kokum (grandmother) tells her that being afraid is an opportunity to be brave. When she is scared by something at the sleepover, all of her friends come together to share their fears and be brave together.

Quigly does a great job of introducing Native American culture and story telling to a chapter book audience. JoJo is a very funny and relatable character who effortlessly introduces readers to Ojibwe and Michif words while sharing her life on the reservation. The illustrations of her shenanigans by Tara Audibert greatly add to her characterization as well. Throughout the story there is a fluid blending of past & present and a mixing of tenses that will be familiar to adults who read Native literature, but may be a little confusing to young readers. The Super-Scary Sleepover could function as a stand alone, but is a recommended purchase for libraries who already have the rest of the series or are looking for more diverse chapter books.

Reviewed by Ivy Burns, Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth