The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: 2 Fuzzy, 2 Furious by Shannon and Dean Hale

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: 2 Fuzzy, 2 Furious by Shannon and Dean Hale is the second Squirrel Girl prose novel, following on from the setting and characters established in the first book, Squirrel Meets World. That said, 2 Fuzzy, 2 Furious stands alone fairy well and does not require having read the earlier book to be enjoyed.

Squirrel Girl is BACK in an all-new adventure and things are about to get . . . hairy. Thanks to Squirrel Girl, Ana Sofia, and the Squirrel Scouts, the crime rate in New Jersey is at an all time low. It makes for safer streets but also bored-er squirrels. That's why it's super exciting when Doreen's school announces a new mall is being built right next to their town. Mmmm . . . Doreen can smell the soft pretzels now. The corporation building mall has also announced that there will be a competition to choose the mall's mascot. Because malls need mascots?Anyway, Doreen's school will be voting for a cat and the neighboring school will be voting for a dog. As the relationship starts to unravel between the two towns, Squirrel Girl and her friends suspect something more sinister is at work. With the help of old friends like Ana Sofia, Tippy Toe, and The Mighty Thor as well as some surprising new ones, Squirrel Girl will squash a villainous plot and save everyone.The unbeatable Squirrel Girl is ready for more nuts AND more butts! Are you?

Much as expected, this book was fun, light-hearted and humorous. It revisits middle school-aged Squirrel Girl/Doreen Green along with her best human and squirrel friends, Anna Sofia and Tippy Toe, respectively. While Doreen and Anna Sofia navigate friendship and middle school, something strange and probably evil is brewing in their town. Will they realise in time to put a stop to it before it gets out of hand? And now many Squirrel Girl commentary foot notes can be squeezed into one book? (94. The answer is 94.)

I enjoyed 2 Fuzzy, 2 Furious a lot, although I think slightly less than I enjoyed the first book in the series. I'm not sure whether that's to do with actual differences in tone/voice etc or just a difference in my mood when each book was read. That said, I did feel there was a difference in Tippy Toe's voice with its idiosyncrasies being toned down a bit in 2 Fuzzy, 2 Furious compared with Squirrel Meets World. I don't think this is a bad thing though, since it's now a bit more accessible.

Overall this book was strong on the power of friendship and being nice to people, with a few amusing attempts at peaceful conflict resolution on Squirrel Girl's part. I would definitely not hesitate to give it to young children (although Australian and other non-US children would probably require an explanation as to what middle school is). I enjoyed it a lot and I will definitely be reading any more Squirrel Girl books the Hales write.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: March 2018, Marvel Press
Series: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl book 2 or 2 so far
Format read: ePub
Source: Purchased via iBooks