Seven-year-old Hailey Twitch likes everything sparkly and flouncy and colorful. She is thrilled to get an assignment to cook an ethnic food for diversity week at school. She wants to work with her friend Antonio, whose family is from Mexico. But then she’s paired with rule-following Addie Jokobeck, who is determined to make French fries. How boring.

Hailey is sulking in her room when a real-live sprite flies out of her play castle. Maybelle has been trapped inside for 200 years. Now she’s being allowed out for a chance to regain her magic, if only she can find out how to have fun.

Hailey Twitch is Not a Snitch, written by Lauren Barnholdt and illustrated by Suzanne Beaky, is a new series for young readers. Hailey has a good heart, but she has a lot to learn about following rules and making new friends. She worries about another girl in class taking her old friends away, and she’s pretty good at knowing when she needs time alone to be crabby.

Young readers aged 6 to 8 will see Hailey work through similar issues that they do: playground disputes, getting in trouble when you didn’t know you were doing something wrong, and keeping old friends while making new ones. Maybelle and her attempts to have fun add an interesting twist. The story ends with a preview of the next title in the series, Hailey Twitch Saves the Play.