Ruby and Bear Foot live with their father Ivor, who makes shoes. He works for Wendy Wedge. Almost everyone in Shoetown works for Wendy Wedge. She has a giant factory where she makes wedge shoes. Because she has so much power in town, she was able to close almost all the other shoe stores and has made almost all of the shoemakers work for her. She makes all the schoolchildren wear her wedges, which aren’t very comfortable and make it hard for them to run and play.

Every year, all the shoemakers get together for The Golden Shoe Awards. Wendy Wedge tries to win it every year, but she never does. She thinks that if she could just invent flying shoes (or if one of the shoemakers working for her would invent flying shoes, those would be hers too), then she could win The Golden Shoe Awards. But none of the shoemakers have been able to make flying shoes.

Or have they?

One night, Ruby is awakened to strange sounds coming from her father’s workshop. She goes to see what’s making the noise, and she sees her father flying in the air. He has flying shoes! Ruby thinks they’re amazing and is about to say something to her father when she hears him tell the cat that Ruby and Bear can never know about the flying shoes.

Especially since, if Wendy Wedge finds them, she will steal them for herself, win The Golden Shoe Award, and take over all the shoe stores, making all the shoemakers work for her in every town. Wendy Wedge getting her hands on those flying shoes would be the worst thing ever.

Which is why Ruby and Bear and Ivor and their friends have to stop Wendy Wedge, once and for all.

Shoe Wars is Liz Pichon’s newest adventure in middle grade fiction. As writer and illustrator of Shoe Wars, she brings all the characters to life with playful whimsy and inventive storytelling. With clever touches like the *Foot notes, and lively designs that combine the art and the type in eye-catching styles, Pichon’s work can keep the attention of middle graders (or adults with distraction issues, which I certainly wouldn’t know anything about).

I loved Shoe Wars. It is an adorable story told with wit, creativity, energy, and fun. It’s reading at its best for kids and for kids at heart. I definitely recommend you buy this one for your kids (and read it yourself before handing it over. It reminds you of what being a kid is all about!).

Galleys for Shoe Wars were provided by Scholastic Press, with many thanks.