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DANCING WITH GREAT-AUNT CORNELIA

In her first book, Quirk proves herself smart and funny as she establishes and then parodies Manhattan high life as experienced by a teenager from Queens. Connie O'Malley's Great-aunt Cornelia is larger than life and twice as batty. Filthy rich, she travels in a stretch limo, at least until her equally eccentric chauffeur gets himself hauled off to jail. Undaunted, Cornelia learns to take taxis and continues her energetic support of the Museum of HyperModern Art, retains her membership in the Manhattan Beanstalk Club, dines with her Russian wolfhound at the table, and invites Connie to venture in from Queens to spend the summer with her in Manhattan. Connie's parents aren't thrilled with the idea, but they agree to a two-week visit. A whirlwind tour of high society ensues, culminating in an extravagant party that reveals some surprising truths about Connie's family. There are many amusing moments in this spoof on the haves and the will-have-nots of modern New York City. The writing is tightly timed and riddled with humor as Quirk pokes fun at everything from nouvelle cuisine to dysfunctional families. (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: May 30, 1997

ISBN: 0-06-027332-1

Page Count: 151

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1997

Categories:
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WRECKING BALL

From the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series , Vol. 14

Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.

The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.

When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.

Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)

Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Amulet/Abrams

Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019

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LET IT GLOW

A warm bundle of holiday cheer.

In a funny, feel-good tale, 12-year-old twins separated at birth meet by chance and try to pull off a family switch during the December holidays.

The girls, who are cued white, agree that it would be a delicious prank, but each has a personal motive, too: Aviva Davis, who was adopted by a culturally Jewish mom and a Black dad who was raised Christian, wonders what it’s like to celebrate Christmas. Budding author Holly Martin, who was adopted by a white-presenting single mom, sees a golden opportunity to gather experiences for a school writing assignment about facing her fears. In a plot as sweet as a Hanukkah jelly doughnut and twisty as a Christmas cinnamon roll, the pair just manages to bail one another out of a string of sticky situations—both hilarious and otherwise. They both learn something of the customs and meaning of the two holidays while working through tears and laughter—not to mention conflicts sparked by their very different personalities. Everything culminates in a holiday performance at a local senior center that will have readers rising up to cheer them on. Though their history remains tantalizingly mysterious, for the protagonists, who narrate alternating chapters, it’s mission accomplished and more: Aviva emerges feeling more secure in her Jewish identity, while anxious Holly discovers unexpected depths of courage.

A warm bundle of holiday cheer. (song lyrics) (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024

ISBN: 9781250360670

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024

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