Jolene loves junk food. She loves it so much she wears red licorice in her hair--and pink taffy underwear! The Munch Bunch calls her "The Junk Food Queen." Then, one night in her dreams, she meets a bunch of cool characters who take her on an incredible, edible journey into a world of juicy fruits, super salads and yummy smoothies. Jolene: Adventures of a Junk Food Queen has been named among the best in family-friendly media, products and services by the prestigious Mom's Choice Awards® "Jolene: Adventures of a Junk Food Queen is a fantastic book. It is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets Alice and Wonderland. Creative, fun, and informative. When I first picked up the book, I was unsure how any author could make clean eating enjoyable or exciting. However, Alexa Palmer and Catharine Kaufman did just that. Now I am no "greaseologist," but I know a few things about junk food and how much kids are drawn to it. This entertaining story follows Jolene, a junk food queen, in learning that there is more out there than just candy and French fries. Not only do the authors teach about healthy eating, but they also do it in a way that the reader will go on an adventure to find nutritious alternatives to their junk food ways. I tried to pick a favorite character; however, it was tough. From the Cavity Ranger, Madame Fudge, Gumball Buddies, Pizza Police, and all the way to the Blender Babes, the characters had me completely entranced. I do have to say if I had to pick one personality, the Phantom of the French Fries was my favorite. (Who doesn't love French fries!) I adore how the authors also brought in another character named Sugar Sam to keep up the adventure and show readers that people can change. Jolene: Adventure of a Junk Food Queen is written so that parents and children of any age will want to read it from beginning to end. The illustrations by John Martinez and Hayden Mills are exciting and amusing. The watercolor artwork really worked well with the storyline. The pictures reminded me of my kids when I asked them to eat healthily. Palmer and Kaufman's design of the writing and arrangement of the images made for an appealing read. One of my favorite parts was the recipes in the back of the book. I can't wait to try those with my little Junk Food creatures. Maybe they will receive some "greenergy" themselves. Thank you so much for a brilliant book and imaginary, whimsical read!" -- Readers' Favorite "What to Expect: Adventure, silliness, healthy habits ...Palmer and Kaufman do a marvelous job of showing readers how eating better for you makes you feel better. They also do an excellent job of incorporating the concept of moderation in eating junk food. By using vivid descriptions and memorable characters, they have created an engaging lesson for their readers. Martinez and Mills' lively and quirky illustrations do a great service in breaking up what could be considered a text-heavy story. The images draw the reader into the wacky adventure and provide great visuals of Jolene and her health guides... -- The Children's Book Review "This is such a smart book! Once I read it I had a flood of ideas for my class...I read this with my second grade class and broke it down into 2 parts... Day one 1 I read the first half and stopped before she meets the healthy foods. We then had a discussion about different junk foods and why we call them that. I also used the junk food theme for some other writing exercises etc. The following day we read the last half of the book and focused our lessons on healthy foods in the same way etc. In the back of the book the author included some smoothie recipes. So their homework was to go home and make one of the smoothies called the "Bonanza Berry Brain-Freeze Blast". Of course they loved it..." -- Chlidren's Bookshelf Used Book in Good Condition