My oldest read and really enjoyed Marina J. Bowman’s two Legends of Pineapple Cove books, and so I joined the Code Pineapple email list on her behalf. Not too long later, I got an email inviting people to apply to part of the Scaredy Bat #2 Launch Team; I applied, was accepted, and read the e-ARC with my 8 and 6 year old daughters. And today, on Launch Day, I’m sharing it with you! Get your copy FREE or $0.99 from today through May 31!

“Scaredy Bat” is actually a 12 year old vampire named Ellie, who loves solving mysteries. But she scares easily, and when she does, she turns into a bat. Each installment of the book follows Ellie as she both solves a mystery and overcomes a fear, while working closely with a group of supportive friends. In Scaredy Bat and the Sunscreen Snatcher, Ellie overcomes her fear of clowns, learns not to judge people by appearance (or, rather, smell), and remembers the importance of working closely with others as a team.

My kids LOVED it, and each gave it five stars. My rating is more like a three – it was a fun book for the kids, with some wholesome and important lessons. It made a great read-aloud and bridged the age difference between my girls, which is hard to do sometimes. The publishers describe the book as an early chapter book geared for kids ages 8-12, but it feels more appropriate to me for the 6-8 crowd, and kids who are ready to move up to early chapter books like the early Magic Treehouse series. Advanced readers and older kids will likely find it simplistic to read on their own, but the storyline will hold their interest as a read-aloud.

I guess to be fair I have to average the ratings, which gives us four stars!