A well-illustrated but sometimes-vague tale of a difficult immigrant journey.
An illustrated, bilingual children’s book about a youngster’s challenges in a new country.
Debut author Domenzain presents, in English and Spanish, the story of a girl named Flor. After a bad season for the local corn crop, she finds out that she and her father will be venturing to a new land in search of a better life. The land is known as Para Todos (“For All”) because it’s supposed to be a land of fair opportunity. During the Christmas season, she saw that faraway place on television—a place where kids experience snowfall and receive abundant presents; of course, the reality doesn’t prove as glamorous as the TV version. After a journey that’s “tiring, dangerous and long,” the girl and her dad make it to their destination, but life is not easy there. Their apartment is small; Flor, who has trouble learning a new language, is teased at school for her name, which sounds like floor to English speakers; and her father has to work long hours. In time, though, Flor does well in her studies, and she later decides to take up the cause of immigrants, tell their stories, and convince others to “vote for new rules” regarding immigration. The text—which is written in rhyme in English but not in Spanish but tells the same story in both cases—is accompanied by simple, sparsely colored illustrations that add richness to the tale. For example, after Flor’s father explains the problem with the crops, he’s pictured looking out onto a parched field that stretches all the way to the horizon. The story also effectively emphasizes some basic, persistent fears of struggling immigrant families; Flor’s dad, for example, expresses worry that if he complains at work, he’ll be quickly replaced. This same simplicity, though, results in few details to hook young readers; Flor, for instance, has few other interests or personality quirks that might make her more relatable. Although the struggles of the main characters feel real, their personalities remain ambiguous.
A well-illustrated but sometimes-vague tale of a difficult immigrant journey.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73-449387-0
Page Count: 51
Publisher: Hard Ball Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Fiber artists beware! Unnerving artistry and reality TV mix and meld in this fantastic cautionary tale.
Obsession claims an unlikely victim when a young mole gives absolutely everything for a chance at glitz and glory.
Nine-year-old Winona Mole is passionate about crocheting. Her favorite television program is an Is It Cake?–like show called Yarn Is Everything!, in which contestants create realistic replicas of objects through stitch alone. After a trip to a woolen arts museum, Winona sees the mysterious Spirit Hook, rumored to bestow powers “upon those willing to pay the price.” Later, Winona finds a seeming replica of that same crochet hook in her bag. Suddenly, her skills accelerate fantastically. Yet when she gets a chance to compete on Yarn Is Everything!, what starts as a passion turns into something darker. Reynolds walks that thin line between kid-appropriate and chilling with an aplomb worthy of his Twilight Zone influences. Winona’s descent into unhealthy fixation is matched by Brown’s telltale yarn fragments, trailing eerily from objects that should not be yarn-based. Crafters may find it odd that Reynolds opted for crocheting, not the more common knitting, as Winona’s métier. Even so, this lends the usual homey arts an effective creepiness, even as the increasing ridiculousness of the crocheted objects makes it sublimely silly as well.
Fiber artists beware! Unnerving artistry and reality TV mix and meld in this fantastic cautionary tale. (Chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: July 14, 2026
ISBN: 9781665961141
Page Count: 104
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2026
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