The Uncanny Express by Kara LaReau

Jaundice and Kale are (reluctantly) off on another adventure. This time, their (still absent) parents have arranged for the girls to meet their Aunt Shallot at the railroad station. Still recovering from their adventures of the first book, Kale and Jaundice are not ecstatic when the woman who shows up is a magician who immediately whisks them off onto the Uncanny Express. Magique (as she prefers to be called) is trying to break into the mainly male milieu of magicians. Her first show went horribly and she is heading to the Uncanny Valley to show what she can do. Unfortunately, after practicing her show on the train, Magique disappears. It is up to the two girls to help world famous detective, Hugo Fromage, solve the case of the missing magician.
A light play on the Orient Express that I quite enjoyed and I think kids will too. Definitely better than the first book.

Four stars
This book comes out January 9
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

The Jolly Regina by Kara LaReau

Jaundice and Kale Bland are living in Dullsville, waiting for their parents to return from the errand that they left to do years ago. Neither sister really remembers their parents but they are content with the life they have, darning socks, eating cheese sandwiches, and reading from Dr. Snoote's Dictionary. They live utterly uniteresting lives and are happy to do so. That's why it's shocking when there's a knock on the door and somebody tells the girls that they are about to get a surprise.
Little do they know that their bland lives are about to get a lot more colorful.
I enjoyed the story and liked the added vocabulary lessons. I also really liked that the sisters felt most comfortable at home and that adventure was not necessarily their end goal. So many kid books are about going on great adventures and I wasn't that kid and it's so nice to read about someone more like myself.

Four stars
This book comes out January 10