A New Day by Brad Meltzer (review)

After providing people with lazy days every week without even a thank you, Sunday up and quits. The other days are appalled, but the week can't just be six days, so they put out an ad for a fill-in. They get a few good contenders with Fun Day and Bun Day, and a few not so good ones (Shark Day is a bit too scary, and "also, it needs a week"), but when they post the search online, things get a little crazy. Gymnasts show up for Acrobaturday, the dogs who were pushing for Dog Day are now in for DogsWhoLoveFrogs Day, and the unicorns with flashlights for horns make a fierce argument against unicorns with horns (think instruments) for their day. At the end of the day, however, it turns out Sunday really just needed a bit of acknowledgment. The ending is rather anticlimactic given the frantic energy that precedes it, but the amount of silliness carries the story through, buttressed by an amusing subplot with a group of very insulted felines and their lobbying for Caturday. With their oddball shapes and candy-colored hues, the days each have a distinct personality, from frantic, anxious Monday to a very chill Casual Friday, and while they'll likely draw comparisons to the feelings in Pixar's Inside Out, they still make vivid, solid anchor points as the chaos around them grows. Pair this with Rex's On Account of the Gum (BCCB 10/20) for an exponentially energetic read or just hand it to any kid who enjoys a good pun(day).