We love this whole series. The writing is accessible for almost all third grade readers (which is great for my son who is just starting to get a hang of it) but story lines are far more compelling, and characters are more developed than standard stories written at this level. I cried at the end of the Bell Bandit, and when we finished The Magic Trap, my son said he hoped there would be another because it felt like Evan and Jessie were his friends and he was going to miss them. Jacqueline Davies does a phenomenal job of capturing what it is like to be a kid now. I volunteer in my son's school and noticed a number of details which are true of my son's experience now, but were not so true when I was a kid. The books touch on issues that effect kids greatly and does so in a way that does not overwhelm them, does not patronize them, but rather gives them a framework to analyze their own experiences and voice their own thoughts. After reading the Bell Bandit, I noticed an improvement in my son's demonstration of empathy and consideration. After reading The Candy Smash, my son felt comfortable talking about who he had a crush on and what having a crush and navigating the social complexities of third grade was like for him. He is in general a very private kid, so this was a rare glimpse into his feelings. I feel like Jacqueline Davies gave my family a rare gift with this series, and I will be forever grateful to her.