An enlightening guide for aspiring adventurers.
Scout is hiking in the mountains when her hapless older brother loses their way on the trail.
After he runs off, Scout is left to fend for herself and figure out how to make her way back to civilization. She must make a series of choices, including where and how to set up camp, how to make her water drinkable, how to preserve her food supplies, and how to stay safe from numerous dangers. In each scenario, Scout breaks down her options with the help of a friendly talking skunk and decides on an answer for her predicaments. Competent and clearheaded Scout’s problem-solving is instructive both because of the breadth of information found here and because of Eaton’s methodical approach. This is more of a how-to than a narrative, and readers will learn not only camping and survival skills, but also how to calmly cope with a difficult situation. Comics prove a good medium to relay these skills to their intended audience. Colorful, energetic, cartoon illustrations rotating among wilderness panoramas, close-ups of Scout’s gear and tools, and more character-focused images with frequent humorous asides help convey both the basics and plenty of expert-level information like how to use a signal mirror, read a topographic map, or make a fire bow. Scout and her family present White.
An enlightening guide for aspiring adventurers. (appendix, further reading, author’s note) (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781250790477
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
A humorously illustrated convergence of fantasy and science but a disappointing tale in the era of #BlackLivesMatter.
A colorful, zany how-to book from a Canadian author-illustrator pair with scientifically informative instructions for an excursion one should never take.
Narrator Celeste, a dapper, bow tie–and–red boot–wearing Madagascar hissing cockroach who promotes “very bad ideas,” declares herself particularly qualified to advise others on survival techniques since her species has persisted for 300 million years. To offer advice on how one can safely promenade with Frank, a 300-pound reticulated python, she chooses a brown-skinned boy, whom she dresses in knickerbockers and a top hat, as the python’s victim—a stand-in for “you,” the reader. As Celeste progresses through many scenarios to help this kid survive Frank’s adaptations for killing and eating prey, readers learn lots about pythons: their types, their physical characteristics, their adaptations for swallowing prey many times their size, fun facts about the smallest, longest, and heaviest pythons, and more. The vibrant, action-packed illustrations add both detail and humor. Problematically, though, this capricious cockroach plays with the life of a Black boy for her own entertainment while he has no agency: He never speaks or pushes back but executes all of Celeste’s directives despite clear danger to himself. Animal prey does finally enter the story, but it’s too bad animal rather than human prey wasn’t the choice throughout.
A humorously illustrated convergence of fantasy and science but a disappointing tale in the era of #BlackLivesMatter. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7352-6658-2
Page Count: 84
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Cathartic proof that childhood provides lessons for a lifetime and that change is possible.
From the day baby Daniel arrives, crying so loudly that it hurts Charise’s ears and absorbing her mother’s attention, Charise starts growing into her role of bad sister.
The popular children’s author highlights rough-and-tumble episodes from their childhoods that scar her and her brother, literally and figuratively. Charise plays wildly, tricks her little brother, and enjoys her power. Often Daniel gets hurt, and her parents insist she should know better. The selected stories and details shared here reveal volumes about the family’s dynamics. The siblings’ escalating antics are captured in clean, colorful panels that often end with moving illustrations in moody blues conveying Charise’s isolation, frustration, and guilt. Readers will relate to the rivalry, ambivalent feelings, and raw honesty—and they, unlike Charise’s parents, will see the full picture: It takes two to tango; sometimes four, counting their parents’ roles in exacerbating everything. As Daniel grows and Charise matures, the dynamic changes as well. Charise admires Daniel’s social skills which she feels she cannot match, partly due to her undiagnosed prosopagnosia, or face blindness. Over time she begins to treat Daniel better, especially after reaching a turning point when she clearly sees the lasting consequences of her behavior. By the end, they become partners, with the power to forgive. This is a powerful story of growth, self-awareness, and genuine insight into family relationships. Most characters read as White.
Cathartic proof that childhood provides lessons for a lifetime and that change is possible. (Graphic memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-21906-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
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