An immersive and grounded story of becoming and self-discovery.
A lake recounts its historical connections to the family of a boy who’s been “exiled to a strange, watery land.”
“I am a lake, so let me be clear,” insists Lake Peigneur, an ancient body of water deep in Louisiana’s Mississippi Delta. But for Junius Leak, who’s nearly 13 in the summer of 1980, things are far from clear. From the lake’s perspective, the reason for the return of the latest in a long line of Junius Leaks to his birthplace is obvious, with origins in 1820, involving pirates and the first infant Junius. While his parents attend a retreat to work on their marriage, the current Junius, who reads white, faces a surprise trip to Delcambre, Louisiana, to stay with a maternal uncle he’d never heard of. Despite upsides, like new friends, Aunt Boudreaux (a sassy and occasionally problematic cat), and firsthand experiences with his special interest (bodies of water), the move has downsides, too, like how terrifying such bodies of water can be up close and the frustrating lack of communication around his biggest family-related questions. Although the term was coined in the mid-1990s, Junius’ mom is a self-described “highly sensitive person”; she tells her son, “June Bug…us HSPs have to stick together,” and the book includes helpful coping mechanisms. This expansive, multilayered tale combines a pirate treasure mystery, environmental science and activism, Cajun cultural influences, and deep acceptance of and compassion for neurodivergence.
An immersive and grounded story of becoming and self-discovery. (author's note, glossary, resources, map) (Adventure. 10-14)Pub Date: July 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781536217452
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
Some readers may feel that the resolution comes a mite too easily, but most will enjoy the journey and be pleased when...
Two sisters make an unauthorized expedition to their former hometown and in the process bring together the two parts of their divided family.
Dooley packs plenty of emotion into this eventful road trip, which takes place over the course of less than 24 hours. Twelve-year-old Ophelia, nicknamed Fella, and her 16-year-old sister, Zoey Grace, aka Zany, are the daughters of a lesbian couple, Shannon and Lacy, who could not legally marry. The two white girls squabble and share memories as they travel from West Virginia to Asheville, North Carolina, where Zany is determined to scatter Mama Lacy’s ashes in accordance with her wishes. The year is 2004, before the Supreme Court decision on gay marriage, and the girls have been separated by hostile, antediluvian custodial laws. Fella’s present-tense narration paints pictures not just of the difficulties they face on the trip (a snowstorm, car trouble, and an unlikely thief among them), but also of their lives before Mama Lacy’s illness and of the ways that things have changed since then. Breathless and engaging, Fella’s distinctive voice is convincingly childlike. The conversations she has with her sister, as well as her insights about their relationship, likewise ring true. While the girls face serious issues, amusing details and the caring adults in their lives keep the tone relatively light.
Some readers may feel that the resolution comes a mite too easily, but most will enjoy the journey and be pleased when Fella’s family figures out how to come together in a new way . (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-16504-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
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