The Mutant Mushroom Takeover
Synopsis:
“Stranger Things meets The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl in this lightly spooky debut about Maggie, an aspiring young naturalist, and her YouTuber best friend, Nate, who use their smarts and science to solve the mystery behind a mutant fungus that’s threatening the town.
Ever since Magnolia Stone’s scientist dad left Shady Pines to find a new job, Maggie’s been stuck in her gramma’s mobile home with her grumpy older brother, Ezra. Now she’s on a mission to put her family back together by winning the Vitaccino Junior Naturalist Merit Award.
When Maggie and her best friend, Nate, a wannabe YouTube star and alien conspiracy theorist, scout out a rare bioluminescent fungus, Maggie is certain she’s a shoo-in to win. But after animals around town start sprouting unusual growths and Ezra develops a bluish glow and hacking cough, Maggie wonders what they’ve really stumbled onto.
As things in Shady Pines become stranger and more dangerous, and conversations with her dad get complicated, Maggie must use her scientific smarts and Nate’s impressive knowledge of all things spooky to put things back in order and prevent these peculiar glowing mushrooms from taking over their home.”
Review
I loved Magnolia Stone determination and courage in this story! She was willing to do anything in her power to bring her dad home by getting him a new job. But, when she realizes this problem is bigger than she ever imagined she has to make a really difficult decision. Maggie has the help of a sidekick who is all about conspiracy theories. That is until he actually is swept up into the middle of one. In the end, Maggie must save her hometown from bioluminescent mushrooms.
I think that the middle grade generation sees more completely what humans are doing to our planet. Not only how it’s affecting everything around us, but that they want to be the change. I can see a number of kids really interested in this book from an environmental perspective. At the same time, this is a great adventure story that kept me turning the pages. The whodunnit aspect made me want to figure out exactly what happened!
The setting was very realistic. A small town I loved the setting, a small town where a big company has set up shop and hires most of the townspeople. There are towns like this today and those businesses can hold a lot of power. Maggie and her brother live with their grandmother in a trailer park. I think the author did an amazing job of showing a character who lives with a grandparent. And who’s family is dealing with economic instability which is a reality for a lot of kids these days.
Pair The Mutant Mushroom Takeover with books like Hoot, Fuzzy Mud, or Me and Marvin Gardens for a great display on environmental science tie-ins in middle grade books!
Need to Know:
Title: The Mutant Mushroom Takeover
Author: Summer Rachel Short
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 22, 2020
Page Number: 256 pgs.
Looking for more STEM inspired titles? Check out my list of 20 Titles for Young STEM Enthusiasts that I pulled together this past summer!
