by Maddie Figgie illustrated by Noelle Kostyack ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 20, 2014
A sweet declaration of love for young readers from adults or for adults from young readers, making it a good selection for...
How many ways can a child or parent express love? Debut author and illustrator Figgie and Kostyack offer several suggestions in this concept book—then leave room for readers to add their own.
With simple, repeating text and creative illustrations, Figgie and Kostyack invite readers to picture the number of pepperoni pizzas in Italy or the number of lights on the Eiffel Tower. With each quantity, the narrator expresses, “I love you more than…” offering young readers a pattern to repeat on each page. Some of the numbers are concrete (“all the LEGOs in LEGOLAND”), and others are so numerous they’re effectively uncountable (the number of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy). Children are likely to giggle at choices like the number of gum balls in the largest gum ball machine in the world or the number of jelly beans produced by the Easter Bunny. The best selections, however, are the numbers that aren’t usually considered—drops of rain in a thunderstorm or snowflakes in a snowman. Kostyack, already a talented illustrator at the age of 11, artfully uses squiggles to imply solid color in a way that reflects the childlike tone of the words. While several of her illustrations are cartoonish, others show a full range of shading or turn a simple design into a poignant image. A few details are a bit of a miss; a beach scene next to text about a jungle, for example, and in one image, a mug bears an unnecessary anti-male caption (“If a man states an opinion and a woman is not around to hear it, he is still…wrong”), which may alienate young male independent readers who would otherwise enjoy the book. The final four spreads offer children the starter phrase, “I love you more than…” and the beginning of an image (a playground, a rainbow, a tire swing in a tree, a girl hugging a woman) that they can complete along with the phrase. While some beg obvious completion (I love you more than the colors of the rainbow, for example), others will encourage more creative responses, both in the art and the text.
A sweet declaration of love for young readers from adults or for adults from young readers, making it a good selection for lap reading.Pub Date: Nov. 20, 2014
ISBN: 978-1495382925
Page Count: 46
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Marti Dumas illustrated by Stephanie Parcus ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 11, 2017
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
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A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Marti Dumas
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by Marti Dumas
by Paul Langan Ben Alirez ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2004
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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