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ROPE BURN

Name: ROPE BURN
Author: Jan Siebold
ISBN: 0-8075-7109-1

by Jan Siebold ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1998

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Siebold gives an 11-year-old boy the chance to gain a better understanding of himself and his family through effective use of a well-worn device—a class assignment. To fulfill a school requirement, Richard, 11, redefines well-known proverbs, then uses them as a framework to talk about the fears and feelings unleashed by his parents’ recent divorce and his move to a new neighborhood. Filled with realistic dialogue and subtle humor, each short chapter offers a simple yet thought-provoking story about a different aspect of Richard’s life. He writes about being the “new kid” in an unfamiliar school, becoming best friends with James, overcoming his fear of climbing the rope in gym class, feeling guilty about “secret weekends” with his father, and attending a funeral service for the first time. From the first sentence (“I hate writing”) to the last, the tone of the book is engaging and true to life; Richard not only gains understanding, but discovers his own voice as well. (Fiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: May 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-8075-7109-1

Page Count: 82

Publisher: Whitman

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1998

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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LUNCH MONEY

by Andrew Clements & illustrated by Brian Selznick ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2005

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Budding billionaire Greg Kenton has a knack for making money and a serious rival. When he issues his first Chunky Comic Book at the beginning of sixth grade, his neighbor and classmate Maura Shaw produces an alternative. Their quarrel draws the attention of the principal, who bans comics from the school. But when they notice all the other commercial messages in their school, they take their cause to the local school committee. Without belaboring his point, Clements takes on product placement in schools and the need for wealth. “Most people can only use one bathroom at a time,” says Greg’s math teacher, Mr. Z. Greg gets the message; middle-grade readers may ignore it in favor of the delightful spectacle of Greg’s ultimate economic success, a pleasing result for the effort this up-and-coming young businessman puts into his work. Clements weaves intriguing information about comic book illustration into this entertaining, smoothly written story. Selznick’s accompanying black-and-white drawings have the appearance of sketches Greg might have made himself. This hits the jackpot. (Fiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: July 1, 2005

ISBN: 0-689-86683-6

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2005

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FRINDLE FILES
by Andrew Clements ; illustrated by Brian Selznick

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FRIENDSHIP WAR
by Andrew Clements

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LOSERS CLUB
by Andrew Clements

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TUCK EVERLASTING

by Natalie Babbitt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1975

However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...

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At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.

Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.

However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the first week in August when this takes place to "the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning") help to justify the extravagant early assertion that had the secret about to be revealed been known at the time of the action, the very earth "would have trembled on its axis like a beetle on a pin." (Fantasy. 9-11)