Having made it her mission to impart life information to middle-graders, Cameron brings Julian’s friend Gloria (Gloria’s Way, 2000) to the forefront once again for a series of edifying encounters. After the woman in line behind her in the store, who turns out to be former astronaut Dr. Grace Street, fills her head with starry visions and lectures her on negative thinking, Gloria heads to fourth grade. There bully—er, Billy Watkins gets her in trouble, and her burned-out teacher, Priscilla “Dragon of Doom” Yardley, decides that she’s a liar for claiming to have met an astronaut. Ultimately, Gloria gets to see Dr. Street visit the class, to deliver another inspirational lecture, and to set Mrs. Yardley straight, then screws up her courage to climb Old Rocket, the biggest pine tree in the park, to reflect on big things, little things, and mastering fear. Toft’s penciled portraits capture Gloria’s pigtailed likability nicely; Cameron’s crisply direct advice, all of which is right on, ranges from practical items like never looking directly at the sun, to profound character-building insights—and the learning goes on in an author’s note citing Internet resources about space exploration. “Live and Learn” is the unstated theme, and by the end, readers will have a sense of what makes even Mrs. Yardley and Billy tick. (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 21, 2002
ISBN: 0-374-32675-4
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2002
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda.
Hank Zipzer, poster boy for dyslexic middle graders everywhere, stars in a new prequel series highlighting second-grade trials and triumphs.
Hank’s hopes of playing Aqua Fly, a comic-book character, in the upcoming class play founder when, despite plenty of coaching and preparation, he freezes up during tryouts. He is not particularly comforted when his sympathetic teacher adds a nonspeaking role as a bookmark to the play just for him. Following the pattern laid down in his previous appearances as an older child, he gets plenty of help and support from understanding friends (including Ashley Wong, a new apartment-house neighbor). He even manages to turn lemons into lemonade with a quick bit of improv when Nick “the Tick” McKelty, the sneering classmate who took his preferred role, blanks on his lines during the performance. As the aforementioned bully not only chokes in the clutch and gets a demeaning nickname, but is fat, boastful and eats like a pig, the authors’ sensitivity is rather one-sided. Still, Hank has a winning way of bouncing back from adversity, and like the frequent black-and-white line-and-wash drawings, the typeface is designed with easy legibility in mind.
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-448-48239-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
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