Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Billy Helps Max: Stealing: Billy Growing Up, Volume 5 is a fiction book for children dealing with social issues written by James Minter and illustrated by Helen Rushworth. Max hated being excluded from the things her brother, Ant, and his friend, Billy, did. They got to have adventures in the woods and perform daredevil stunts on their bikes. When they refused to let her try the bike ramp they were building out of a plank and a bucket, she felt left out and angry. When they told her that her bike was too prissy, she decided to do something about it. Max went into her dad's shed and started figuring out how she could detach her basket and mudguards. After she had done that, her bike looked a lot more like theirs did, but there was still that pink, girly color of the frame. So Max decided to paint it; she loved colors and was used to painting from school. She selected a brilliant emerald green for her bike, but she had no idea that the paint she was using was very hard to remove. Once she got out of being in trouble for that catastrophe, however, she did something that was really bad, and Billy helped her figure out how she could fix it.

James Minter's social issues book for children, Billy Helps Max: Stealing: Billy Growing Up, Volume 5, addresses two key issues that face young children. First, there's the temptation to steal -- could it really hurt if you take a candy bar from the grocery store when there's so much there? Minter's story highlights the serious ethical and legal problems of stealing, even when the culprit is only eight years old, as Max is. The other issue addressed is that of gender-related categories and the sometimes automatic assumption that Max would prefer to play with dolls, dress up or go shopping with her Mum than go exploring in the woods or ride her bike. Billy Helps Max explores this issue in several ways. Max single-handedly turns her prissy girl's bike into a kid's bike, and her haircut, which first shocks her, makes her feel empowered, showing her that she's more than the long, blond curls she used to have.

Billy Helps Max is also a lot of fun to read. The paint episode is hilarious, and the image of the kids in school wanting to touch Max's hair is priceless. Best of all, Max went from being Ant's sister in these tales to having a more fully developed persona in the series. Heck, she even wanted a Mohican haircut! The Billy Growing Up series is all about kids developing their strengths and learning life's lessons. This book is no exception, and Billy's role as the one who helps Max out marks a real milestone and turning point for him as well. Billy Helps Max: Stealing: Billy Growing Up, Volume 5 is most highly recommended.