Malcolm Under the Stars

Written by W. H. Beck

Narrated by Charlotte Parry

Now that Snip the cat is gone (but hardly forgotten), the classroom animals of the Midnight Academy are ready for things to get back to normal at the McKenna School. After all, protecting nutters (students) and lankies (teachers) is an around-the-clock job! When a rare coin and a strange code are uncovered in the school, Malcolm and the Academy have another mystery on their hands. To find answers, Malcolm must venture into the dangerous outside world full of shady characters, new friends, and old enemies. Once again there are more secrets in the halls of McKenna than there are crumbs in Malcolm's Comf-E-Cube. Will Malcolm save the school and solve the mystery before it's too late? As the clock strikes twelve, rejoin the animals of the Midnight Academy as they take on their most challenging assignment yet.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9781501901959

W. H. Beck

W.H. BECK is both an author of children's books and a librarian. She grew up in Wisconsin, the oldest of four. As a kid, her dad always teased that she would be a librarian someday. She read all the time—walking home from school, while brushing her teeth, under the table at dinnertime, and under the covers at night. And, sure enough, after earning an elementary teaching degree from the University of Wisconsin, she went on to get a master’s degree in information studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She still lives and reads in Wisconsin and shares a home and books with her husband, two sons, and a big black dog. Visit her website at www.whbeck.com.  

Reviews for Malcolm Under the Stars

[carlathelibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the second book in the series Malcolm at Midnight. I did not read the first book and I think it would have been better if I did. There were many references to occurrences from the first book. That being said, I was still able to follow the story.

Malcolm is a classroom rat living at McKenna School. The animals that live at McKenna all travel around the school at night and are part of the Midnight Academy. In this story, they have found out that the school may be closed and they are worried that their Nutters (children) and Lankies (adults) will all be sent to different schools and they will not be together. They set out to find a hidden stash that has been referred to in stories. The premise is good, but I found the story long and drawn out and it took a long time to read as I kept setting it aside. The story is geared to middle school students and the idea of animals solving the mystery of the hidden stash will be interesting but I am not sure if they will stick to the book. Lots of facts about animals are given in footnotes which is also a good idea. I did love the illustrations in this book and hope that the next one in the series is a little more concise.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.