Beetle Queen

Lucretia Cutter and her evil yellow ladybirds are making trouble again; splicing some unethical creations together in her secret lab. Darkus and his friends, Bertolt and Virginia, must find a way to stop her.

But after the traumatic finale of the first book, Beetle Boy, Darkus's dad wants to keep them away from harm. Even worse, he's gone back to work for the Beetle Diva herself! Lucretia's daughter Novak is still fighting the cause from the inside, but as far as she knows, Darkus is dead.

Fans of Beetle Boy will be thrilled at these Beetle antics, and those who secretly loved the dastardly Lucretia will enjoy seeing her steal the limelight.

M G Leonard manages to subtly pack a swarm of scientific information into the adventure story, including eco-friendly advice on how eating more insects might eventually save the planet. The illustrations are super stylish and there are some skin-crawling scenes involving the evil Lucretia.