I AM DRUMS

Name: I AM DRUMS
Author: Mike Grosso
ISBN: 978-0-544-70710-8

by Mike Grosso ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 6, 2016

This is a worthy and entertaining read about how talent develops and what the potential consequences of pursuing it are:...

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Sam hears drumbeats in her head, so it’s hard for her to think about anything but her passionate need to become an accomplished drummer.

Things are ever so complicated for the sixth-grader. Her family, likely white, is struggling financially, her father is constantly angry, and she’s having problems in school. After Sam whacks a classmate with her marimba mallet when he—once again—mocks her, the principal leaves a phone message with her parents—then more messages, all of which she deletes. Then, after her father tells her not to, she starts a lawn-mowing service with the family mower in order to make enough money to pay for drumming lessons with the quirky but equally passionate Pete. Readers will quickly develop a rapport with Sam; it’s impossible not to empathize with both her eagerness and her desperation, nor to recognize that her efforts aren’t sustainable. When things come crashing down, it happens with an appropriate BANG! Sam’s voice is mostly just right, and even the minor characters that surround her are nicely fleshed out, especially her pathetic little brother, who tries so hard to make things right. Sam’s Chicago suburb appears to be a largely white one.

This is a worthy and entertaining read about how talent develops and what the potential consequences of pursuing it are: drumroll, please, for a fine homage to spirited single-mindedness. (Fiction. 10-13)

Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-544-70710-8

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Clarion Books

Review Posted Online: May 17, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

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THE MECHANICAL MIND OF JOHN COGGIN

by Elinor Teele ; illustrated by Ben Whitehouse ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 12, 2016

A sly, side-splitting hoot from start to finish.

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The dreary prospect of spending a lifetime making caskets instead of wonderful inventions prompts a young orphan to snatch up his little sister and flee. Where? To the circus, of course.

Fortunately or otherwise, John and 6-year-old Page join up with Boz—sometime human cannonball for the seedy Wandering Wayfarers and a “vertically challenged” trickster with a fantastic gift for sowing chaos. Alas, the budding engineer barely has time to settle in to begin work on an experimental circus wagon powered by chicken poop and dubbed (with questionable forethought) the Autopsy. The hot pursuit of malign and indomitable Great-Aunt Beauregard, the Coggins’ only living relative, forces all three to leave the troupe for further flights and misadventures. Teele spins her adventure around a sturdy protagonist whose love for his little sister is matched only by his fierce desire for something better in life for them both and tucks in an outstanding supporting cast featuring several notably strong-minded, independent women (Page, whose glare “would kill spiders dead,” not least among them). Better yet, in Boz she has created a scene-stealing force of nature, a free spirit who’s never happier than when he’s stirring up mischief. A climactic clutch culminating in a magnificently destructive display of fireworks leaves the Coggin sibs well-positioned for bright futures. (Illustrations not seen.)

A sly, side-splitting hoot from start to finish. (Adventure. 11-13)

Pub Date: April 12, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234510-3

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

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SWIM TEAM

by Johnnie Christmas ; illustrated by Johnnie Christmas ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 17, 2022

Problem-solving through perseverance and friendship is the real win in this deeply smart and inspiring story.

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Leaving Brooklyn behind, Black math-whiz and puzzle lover Bree starts a new life in Florida, where she’ll be tossed into the deep end in more ways than one. Keeping her head above water may be the trickiest puzzle yet.

While her dad is busy working and training in IT, Bree struggles at first to settle into Enith Brigitha Middle School, largely due to the school’s preoccupation with swimming—from the accomplishments of its namesake, a Black Olympian from Curaçao, to its near victory at the state swimming championships. But Bree can’t swim. To illustrate her anxiety around this fact, the graphic novel’s bright colors give way to gray thought bubbles with thick, darkened outlines expressing Bree’s deepest fears and doubts. This poignant visual crowds some panels just as anxious feelings can crowd the thoughts of otherwise star students like Bree. Ultimately, learning to swim turns out to be easy enough with the help of a kind older neighbor—a Black woman with a competitive swimming past of her own as well as a rich and bittersweet understanding of Black Americans’ relationship with swimming—who explains to Bree how racist obstacles of the past can become collective anxiety in the present. To her surprise, Bree, with her newfound water skills, eventually finds herself on the school’s swim team, navigating competition, her anxiety, and new, meaningful relationships.

Problem-solving through perseverance and friendship is the real win in this deeply smart and inspiring story. (Graphic fiction. 10-13)