by Martine Leavitt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 15, 2004
This splendid comedy-drama about a 13-year-old boy who finds himself on the streets when his incapable mother abandons reality, will appeal to both reluctant and serious readers. Hector, an extremely talented artist, covers up his chaotic home life by fantasizing about being a hero, a doer of Good Deeds. He believes that if he is good, all will be well. But he can’t tell the police, his teachers, or his best friend that he and his mother have been evicted. He wanders the mall and the streets practicing his faith in good deeds, until he meets a boy who lives completely in a fantasy. Leavitt’s superb writing displays her own soaring imagination, with original, apt, quirky metaphors that keep her narrative zooming along. The lightness of her language yet carries a moving story of a spunky kid who learns he has to live in the real world. (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2004
ISBN: 1-886910-94-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2004
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by David Shannon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1999
The poster boy for relentless mischief-makers everywhere, first encountered in No, David! (1998), gives his weary mother a rest by going to school. Naturally, he’s tardy, and that’s but the first in a long string of offenses—“Sit down, David! Keep your hands to yourself! PAY ATTENTION!”—that culminates in an afterschool stint. Children will, of course, recognize every line of the text and every one of David’s moves, and although he doesn’t exhibit the larger- than-life quality that made him a tall-tale anti-hero in his first appearance, his round-headed, gap-toothed enthusiasm is still endearing. For all his disruptive behavior, he shows not a trace of malice, and it’ll be easy for readers to want to encourage his further exploits. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-48087-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999
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by David Shannon ; illustrated by David Shannon
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by Irene Smalls ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1999
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
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by Irene Smalls & illustrated by Cathy Ann Johnson
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