The Big Shrink

better and definitely humorousThis installment was better than the last couple. I much prefer that Nory took a back seat to Marigold. It was time for another kid to shine. I don’t think that Ms Starr would have been comfortable allowing Marigold to go off with Layla after the first couple of lessons, especially as she was only a graduate student. I would have expected she’d want to be there to help supervise and watch. She could have said it was so she’d learn so she could help other UDMs in the future. A good teacher knows she still has to learn new techniques to improve her teaching skill as she goes along too.I especially liked the Big Shrink protest. It’s great to make sure kids have the right to be heard, and they did so in a mostly safe and inventive way. Yes, turns out that Marigold got ahead of herself and wasn’t able to unshrink anyone initially, but that actually made the situation a lot more believable due to the unforeseen circumstances. That Marigold even initially said no to the principal was reasonable. She didn’t get aggressive or attack and even get overly dramatic about it, just said it wasn’t enough. That was fair, and had she been able to shrink and unshrink others as she’d hoped, then the principal may have had to change his offer, or explain better why that was the best he could give them. He understood it was the fad of the moment and would likely flare out when a new fad appeared, such as Moon Boppers. The kids may not have understood that, since the Dreggs were so popular.Marigold’s character has a lot of potential. Having her with a hearing loss and hearing aids, plus such a unique and new magic - she could just as easily been the main protagonist of the series and not Nory. They could have even changed the focus and alternated with each new book.Definitely a better book overall than the last two. Hopefully that trend continues.