Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
The Newspaper Club
Beth Vrabel · 2020
84/100
👍 Worth It
Beth Vrabel's series opener is a genuine standout in the middle-grade space — Nellie's frank, funny narrator voice carries you through a mystery plot while also delivering something rare: an age-appropriate, honest look at what journalism actually requires, including bias and truth-telling. The grief underpinning Nellie's character gives the book real emotional stakes. A Kirkus starred review backed by Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and BookPage is a strong signal; this one delivers.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
safety98
substance82
craft86
originality80
accuracy88
hype78
age-fit88
human-eye86
Penny’s verdict84
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