Almost too much—but hatchling naturalists will swarm over this like ants at a picnic.
This bug lover’s delight teems with arthropod images and facts.
The survey is highlighted by a fat-tailed scorpion rearing up dramatically from one opening and a 3-D cockroach the size of an adult hand on another, its inner as well as outer anatomy depicted in exacting detail. These are no exceptions; Kay’s insects, arachnids and other creepy crawlies look lifelike enough to skitter off on their own. McGavin, a veteran entomologist, fills the spaces around them with quick but specific facts about body parts, behaviors, weapons and defenses, life cycles and habitats. A final gallery of his “ultimate bugs” covers record-setting size, speed, venomousness and like need-to-know extremes. The pages are designed to look like crosses between scrapbook leaves and the general clutter in a scientist’s desk drawer. Readers may be as dizzied as they are dazzled by the wide array of scripts and typefaces as well as the evident intent to cram as many flaps, foldouts, accordion-folded minibooks, pull tabs, slide-out panels and pop-up cutouts as possible into the book.
Almost too much—but hatchling naturalists will swarm over this like ants at a picnic. (Pop-up/nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6762-7
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals.
Is dolphin-assisted therapy so beneficial to patients that it’s worth keeping a wild dolphin captive?
Twelve-year-old Lily has lived with her emotionally distant oncologist stepfather and a succession of nannies since her mother died in a car accident two years ago. Nannies leave because of the difficulty of caring for Adam, Lily’s severely autistic 4-year-old half brother. The newest, Suzanne, seems promising, but Lily is tired of feeling like a planet orbiting the sun Adam. When she meets blind Zoe, who will attend the same private middle school as Lily in the fall, Lily’s happy to have a friend. However, Zoe’s take on the plight of the captive dolphin, Nori, used in Adam’s therapy opens Lily’s eyes. She knows she must use her influence over her stepfather, who is consulting on Nori’s treatment for cancer (caused by an oil spill), to free the animal. Lily’s got several fine lines to walk, as she works to hold onto her new friend, convince her stepfather of the rightness of releasing Nori, and do what’s best for Adam. In her newest exploration of animal-human relationships, Rorby’s lonely, mature heroine faces tough but realistic situations. Siblings of children on the spectrum will identify with Lily. If the tale flirts with sentimentality and some of the characters are strident in their views, the whole never feels maudlin or didactic.
Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-67605-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
An optimistic journey of self-acceptance.
Debut author Machias’ novel explores genderfluidity and gender nonconformity as elements of navigating middle school.
Told in two alternating narrative voices, the story follows Ash and Daniel, a pair of Ohio seventh graders who are on a shared mission to rescue an old dog the world doesn’t seem to have room for, a not-so-subtle metaphor highlighting the vulnerabilities faced by all abandoned souls. Throughout their growing kinship, Ash and Daniel struggle with the divergent expectations of those around them: Ash with shifting gender presentations and Daniel with his emotionality and sensitivity. Entering a new school and feeling pressured to pick and disclose a single gender, Ash’s conflicts begin with trying to decide whether to use the boys’, girls’, or gender-neutral bathroom. The school’s diverse Rainbow Alliance is a source of support, but Ash’s parents remain split by more than divorce, with a supportive mom and a dad who tries but fails to understand genderfluidity. Daniel, who has a talent for photography, is a passionate animal lover who volunteers at a local kennel and initially believes Ash is a girl. Ash’s synesthesia amplifies the tension as Ash and Daniel discover a mutual romantic interest. The novel grapples with the impact of society’s overly simplistic messages, but the characterizations at times lack depth, and there are missed opportunities to explore the subtleties of relationships. Main characters are White.
An optimistic journey of self-acceptance. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: June 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-305389-2
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
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