The Third Mushroom is a sequel to Holm’s 2017 book, The Fourteenth Goldfish. Both books have the advantage of being short, sweet, and simple, easy to digest and productive of not a few chuckles at the very least. However, both books are also somewhat over-simplified, especially in the science department, and both have a kind of snarky, disrespectful edge that just stays within my boundaries for likability.

Ellie, a seventh grade only child of divorced parents, doesn’t like mushrooms at all. In both books, Ellie has to deal with a grandfather who has two PhDs, which he brags about, a grandfather who ends up disguised as a middle school student in Ellie’s school as he coerces her into his wild and crazy science experiments and plays havoc with Ellie’s life. Grandpa Melvin is not a very sympathetic character, but he does make the book fun. He very obviously needs to grow up, but he also is fixated on making Ellie into a scientist like him.

This science obsession is an excuse for the author to shoehorn in all kinds of science information and mini-biographies of famous scientists such as Alexander Fleming, William and Caroline Herschel, Carolus Linnaeus, and others. It felt forced to me, but maybe kids won’t notice. Also, the science experiments were a bit wacky and unconvincing, but again maybe for beginning scientists the details don’t matter so much.

Both books are fun and easy to read. Grandpa Melvin is a crank, but he has some funny moments. Ellie, a seventh grader, has a date with a boy, completely clean and almost platonic, but if you’re wanting to delay that particular discussion, I wouldn’t have my second grader reading this one, as one Amazon reviewer said hers did. Also, (SPOILER): Animal Trauma Alert (in The Third Mushroom).

And, by the way, I totally disagree with Ellie about mushrooms and Brussels sprouts. Mushrooms are great, very tasty; Brussels sprouts are Tiny Cabbages of Death. And if you’re not sure what the mushrooms have to do with the actual story, I’m not either.

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This book may be nominated for a Cybils Award, but the views expressed here are strictly my own and do not reflect or determine the judging panel’s opinions.