With cliffhangers and characters to care about, and enough homesteading to interest fans of books about “pioneers,” this...
Hattie’s parents decide to join the movement of free blacks from their home state of Tennessee west to Kansas for the opportunities in bourgeoning black communities, but the journey is harder than they anticipated.
Since Emancipation, Hattie’s parents have sought every opportunity, from pursuing education to opening a successful blacksmith shop. They work hard but want for nothing: Their community supports Papa’s business, Hattie’s teacher believes in her, and while the white woman for whom Hattie does chores is unpleasant company, she pays Hattie a helpful wage. But a man named Singleton comes to town announcing opportunities in Kansas—including free land and all-black towns. When the harassment from Papa’s former master becomes violent, Hattie’s parents decide to make the long journey. The perils along the way are no Little House adventure, and when they arrive, they are disappointed with the basic living conditions compared to where they came from. Yet the story is more suspenseful than scary, and Hattie’s happy, loving, free black family shows a side of American history not often pictured. Historical details are seamlessly woven into the plot through Hattie’s eyes, and half-page pencil illustrations bring her family to life.
With cliffhangers and characters to care about, and enough homesteading to interest fans of books about “pioneers,” this well-written volume fills a major gap in historical fiction. (author’s note, photos, map) (Historical fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-63163-276-1
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Jolly Fish Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
McDunn’s tale of growing beyond a toxic childhood friendship will ring painfully true for many a reader. (Fiction. 8-12)
It’s tough to stand up to the queen.
Anxious Meg has always deferred to bold, popular Beatrix—knowing, unhappily, that Beatrix will quickly freeze her out if she doesn’t. Beatrix dictates what electives the two will share, what childhood traditions they will and won’t retain, and what Meg must do or say to retain her favor. When Meg is one of four seventh graders to be accepted into the competitive science elective, the very thought of telling Beatrix that they will no longer share dance brings unparalleled terror. However, it is eccentric, bee-obsessed new girl Hazel who relates that ill news at a more ill-fated neighborhood party, invoking Beatrix’s immediate animosity and Meg’s warring admiration and consternation. As Meg and Hazel begin to forge a connection through a science project featuring Hazel’s bees, Meg must find the courage to face down her failing friendship with Beatrix, her town’s (and her own) prejudices against the bees, and, ultimately, herself. Meg’s first-person narration is emotive and candid, maintaining sympathy even as her occasional hypocrisy provokes outrage. Middle school drama, including concerns regarding the legitimacy of its power, is tenderly treated, and the connections between characters—family, friends, classmates, and teachers—feel refreshingly genuine. The novel adheres to a white default, with some ethnic diversity among the supporting cast.
McDunn’s tale of growing beyond a toxic childhood friendship will ring painfully true for many a reader. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68119-751-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
Words and art combine to create a moving story.
Imagination and drawing help two grieving children in this illustrated novel by the creator of the popular Timmy Failure series and the comic strip “Pearls Before Swine.”
Things are not looking up for Saint (“I wasn’t named for a bearded guy in heaven. I was named for a football team in Louisiana”). Her favorite toy store is demolished, and her beloved diner closes. It’s all part of the gentrification for which she holds her single mother, who works long hours as a real estate agent and frequently breaks her promises, responsible. Saint very much likes reticent neighbor Daniel “Chance” McGibbons, who uses a cane, but first she has to win his friendship after an awkward beginning at his birthday party. When the uncle Chance lives with sells to developers, Saint’s determination to save his home penetrates Chance’s reserve. The kids’ subsequent shenanigans will delight readers. The story is generously illustrated with Pastis’ characteristic black-and-white cartoon line drawings, mostly of the two round-headed kids, whose hair and skin are as white as the page. Longtime neighborhood resident Old Lady Trifaldi helps Saint learn to cope with change by looking at the stars from her roof, “to make time go backward.” Pastis fills this deceptively simple first-person account with humor, puns, turns, and twists—and the final twist gives this friendship tale its surprising depth.
Words and art combine to create a moving story. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9781665929622
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
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