Mixing an embarrassing Mom with Starshine’s first period, plus an accident for Grandma results in a light-hearted confection that wants to touch your heart without risking real pain. There’s nothing bleak here, as Starshine’s mother Miracle is obviously a pie-eyed idealist determined to make the world a better place—and hauling Starshine along for the ride. To prevent the demise of some oak trees, Miracle takes to living in a convenient tree house, attracting the media, who seem determined to embarrass her daughter rather than stick to actual news. Mr. Charbonet, best friend’s dad, fills in when the diligent caretaker grandmother falls and is taken to the hospital. Starshine may act out in her panic about who is going to take care of her, but readers will know that her world is full of loving adults, including the grim, demanding English teacher who clues Starshine in on how to figure out who her real father is. This is for tender readers who can’t handle a big wallop, and it succeeds in filling the bill by providing a modicum of suspense and a picture of a 13-year-old stepping into the adult world safely, if not easily. Sugar for that young adolescent sweet tooth. (Fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8050-6453-2
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2000
There is something profoundly elemental going on in Smalls’s book: the capturing of a moment of unmediated joy. It’s not melodramatic, but just a Saturday in which an African-American father and son immerse themselves in each other’s company when the woman of the house is away. Putting first things first, they tidy up the house, with an unheralded sense of purpose motivating their actions: “Then we clean, clean, clean the windows,/wipe, wipe, wash them right./My dad shines in the windows’ light.” When their work is done, they head for the park for some batting practice, then to the movies where the boy gets to choose between films. After a snack, they work their way homeward, racing each other, doing a dance step or two, then “Dad takes my hand and slows down./I understand, and we slow down./It’s a long, long walk./We have a quiet talk and smile.” Smalls treats the material without pretense, leaving it guileless and thus accessible to readers. Hays’s artwork is wistful and idyllic, just as this day is for one small boy. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-316-79899-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
PLB 0-517-70967-8 Me And My Family Tree (32 pp.; $13.00; PLB $14.99; May; 0-517-70966-X; PLB 0-517-70967-8): For children who are naturally curious about the people who care for them (most make inquiries into family relationships at an early age), Sweeney explains, with the assistance of a young narrator, the concept of a family tree. Photographs become understandable once the young girl learns the relationships among family members; she wonders what her own family tree will look like when she marries and has children. A larger message comes at the end of this story: not only does she have a family tree, but so does everyone in the world. Cable’s drawings clearly define the process of creating a family tree; she provides a blank tree so children can start on their own geneaology.(Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-517-70966-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999
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