This is a chapter book for children 9 and up dealing with the issues facing monarch butterflies. The Sizzling Six are six girls who attend Stone Middle School in the fictional town of Mortaburg, Alabama. When they find out that Mr. Prickles wants everyone's lawns and garden to look the same and is upset when Mrs. Mariposa begins to grow "weeds" in her garden. He also doesn't like the fact that the empty lot/field also has weeds and wants to mow them all down. Mrs. Mariposa teaches the girls about monarch butterflies and how they need milkweed, which is what she is growing. Mr. Fix, their science teacher also sets up a project to learn about monarchs and their migration. With all the information they have, some scientists and Mrs. Mariposa, they present to the town council to strike down the law to destroy the milkweed.

Clair Datnow has created an interesting story, with a mystery, some science and environmental protection of a declining species. Living in an area where Monarchs live for a portion of their life and migration, my grandson was interested in this story, but it was one I read to him. The Sizzling Six have to overcome obstacles and pursue clues, in order to learn about the behavior, habitats and dangers of life as a monarch butterfly. There is also a lot to learn about climate change and how that is effecting living things. As well there is information about gardens, especially wildflowers and natural species. There were not a lot of illustrations, but those that were in the book added to the story. This is a great book to have in school libraries and classrooms. When teaching about the environment and what we can do to help species that are in danger, or declining, this book would be a great one to read together. I definitely want to check out more in this series. This book was originally published in 2014, but has been updated and republished for a new audience.

If there's one thing you need to know about me in comparison to this book, I LOVE Monarch Butterflies. I have dedicated multiple gardens at my house to those little suckers, so this book drew me in with the title alone. The cover was also beautiful since it featured a diverse array of characters and butterflies!

About this book:
There are six girls: Clara, Sarah, Alex, Rose, Sophie, and Grace and they are the Sizzling Six (that's an epic name, by the way.). Each girl has some stand out characteristics that sets her apart from each of the other girls in the group. The girls learn about Monarch Butterflies and how to protect them, during a wildly fueled drama fest. Court room drama, worrisome adults and lots of learning occur among the pages of this cute, little book.

My positives:
1. Cast of Characters Index. This is a positive, but it's also listed in my negatives. Since I have not read the past books in this series, I liked having that reference. Stay tuned for why I did not like it.

2. When I was reading this book, it felt like a great read aloud story. I could totally see this as a book parents (or educators!) read to their kids or as an audiobook. The story was made for middle grade and it read like that. I could almost hear the kid narrating the story. I don't typically get this feeling with middle grade books, so it felt like quite the whimsical experience.

3. Butterfly facts. I'd be lying if I said I didn't like a pinch of education in my middle grade novels. Oh, and milkweed! That plant is important to monarches and I have tons in my garden. Shout-out to protecting the butterflies natural habitat!

My negative:
1. I found the cast of characters at the front of the book to be confusing, mostly because I haven't seen that sort of index at the front before. I typically see them at the back of the book to help readers out. Mostly, my negative is about the location. It felt like a lot of reading that I might have been able to pick up in the story. Even having the setting listed at the front seemed... odd to me. It worked, but it just didn't fit in with my normal expectations (which could be a good thing for readers, don't get me wrong).

Overall, this book was a sweet, little read that I'd highly recommend. It's great for middle grade readers who want an adventure with some environmental themes.

Four out of five stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Star Bright Books for allowing me an early copy of this book to review!

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* First off I have never read any other books from this series but this book did start off oddly, imo, but middle grades often have quick starts like that. The story itself and characters were cute and I really like what this series promotes (helping endangered things). My only dislike of this book is, what some might consider small, but it a bigger deal to myself and others, and that was referring to Dia de la Muertos as "exotic" …..My people aren't "exotic" and neither is my peoples history and culture... that being said, I did like that they included a character named Tomas! even tho it's a more common Mexican name in books, its the name of more my close family members so I enjoyed that.