The fast pace, colorful, multifaceted characters, and unusual angle make this a quirky, if perhaps disquieting,...
AJ, a thoroughly modern tomboy, is set up for Victorian horror when she is sent to stay with her grandmother for the summer while her parents conduct research in the Amazon.
Grandma Jo wears nothing but high-necked black gowns, and she insists on calling AJ Annemarie. Worse, Grandma Jo disapproves of soccer, skateboarding, and cellphones, and she expects AJ to learn etiquette, including sewing. And the house is not only creepy, it contains forbidden rooms. Thank goodness there’s a cute chauffeur to take her to soccer, but even that is problematic: best friend Maddie thinks AJ’s becoming stuck up, while rich, mean-girl Brianna decides that AJ is now a worthy companion. AJ is beginning to wonder if Grandma Jo’s friends will be a saving grace; they have style and humor, and they appreciate AJ’s talents. In fact, they push to make AJ one of their circle—which, AJ discovers, is a heist club! The ladies give different explanations for their thievery, but, despite her insight and compassion, readers should not expect cheeky narrator AJ to examine the ethics too closely. She enjoys the thrill and Grandma Jo’s esteem until events take a decidedly dark turn: one decides to “steal” AJ—and it’s not her first kidnapping attempt!
The fast pace, colorful, multifaceted characters, and unusual angle make this a quirky, if perhaps disquieting, grandmother-grandchild bonding story. (Thriller. 8-12)Pub Date: March 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-4637-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers.
First volume of a planned three, this edited version of an ongoing online serial records a middle-school everykid’s triumphs and (more often) tribulations through the course of a school year.
Largely through his own fault, mishaps seem to plague Greg at every turn, from the minor freak-outs of finding himself permanently seated in class between two pierced stoners and then being saddled with his mom for a substitute teacher, to being forced to wrestle in gym with a weird classmate who has invited him to view his “secret freckle.” Presented in a mix of legible “hand-lettered” text and lots of simple cartoon illustrations with the punch lines often in dialogue balloons, Greg’s escapades, unwavering self-interest and sardonic commentary are a hoot and a half.
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-8109-9313-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey.
Separated from his pack, Swift, a young wolf, embarks on a perilous search for a new home.
Swift’s mother impresses on him early that his “pack belongs to the mountains and the mountains belong to the pack.” His father teaches him to hunt elk, avoid skunks and porcupines, revere the life that gives them life, and “carry on” when their pack is devastated in an attack by enemy wolves. Alone and grieving, Swift reluctantly leaves his mountain home. Crossing into unfamiliar territory, he’s injured and nearly dies, but the need to run, hunt, and live drives him on. Following a routine of “walk-trot-eat-rest,” Swift traverses prairies, canyons, and deserts, encountering men with rifles, hunger, thirst, highways, wild horses, a cougar, and a forest fire. Never imagining the “world could be so big or that I could be so alone in it,” Swift renames himself Wander as he reaches new mountains and finds a new home. Rife with details of the myriad scents, sounds, tastes, touches, and sights in Swift/Wander’s primal existence, the immediacy of his intimate, first-person, present-tense narration proves deeply moving, especially his longing for companionship. Realistic black-and-white illustrations trace key events in this unique survival story, and extensive backmatter fills in further factual information about wolves and their habitat.
A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey. (additional resources, map) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-289593-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
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