Interesting premise, labored execution.
A tween girl is obsessed with bringing her sister back from the dead.
Attempting to meld science, magic, and poetry into an uplifting mélange, this story instead labors through a flat-footed plot where little is earned and much is simply declared and whose characters are as two-dimensional as the dead bugs the protagonist collects. Seventh grader Juniper thinks the most important thing in life is science, and her one goal is to catch a Palos Verdes blue butterfly—an endangered species—to add to the collection she and her older sister, Ingrid, began before Ingrid tragically drowned two years earlier. On a class field trip, Juniper leaves the group to chase the butterfly and falls in the water. After being rescued, she finds a rock that glows green in her pocket. (Why? This isn’t explained. But apparently this rock can make plants grow.) Next, Juniper meets a talking lemur who lives in the run-down house next to hers. She also meets scientist and magician Artemis, who lives there too, and together they hatch a plan to bring Ingrid back from the dead. Juniper’s classmate Mateo, the new kid in town, loves poetry and also conveniently turns out to be a magician. Juniper’s first-person, present-tense narration is a series of staccato declarative sentences delivering unearned insights that fail to draw readers into the story. Juniper and her family seem to default to White; Mateo is cued Latine.
Interesting premise, labored execution. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2023
ISBN: 9780807549377
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
A rich, captivating story that will resonate with readers.
A coming-of-age story bringing awareness to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, “a holiday no one in this school seems to care about.”
Seventh grader Wesley Wilder, an Upper Skagit Indian Tribe descendant living just north of Seattle, proudly awaits the publication of her celebratory work, “We Still Belong: An Indigenous Peoples’ Day Poem!” But when her English teacher doesn’t mention her poem, despite always giving extra credit and class discussion time to students who are published in the school paper, she feels hurt and confused. Later, Wesley’s plans to ask the boy she’s crushing on to the school dance are derailed, adding to her emotional roller coaster. Day (Upper Skagit) crafts believable, complex characters: Wesley lives in a multigenerational Native family, is an outstanding student, a musician, and a gamer. She is kind and helps others in need. Her grandfather’s words—“the things that scare us the most in this world are usually the most worthwhile things in our lives”—help ease her vulnerability and self-doubt. This story, which weaves diversity into the supporting cast, incorporates layers of Native identity throughout, as Wesley connects with a new friend who is a young Native activist, learning more about Christopher Columbus. The triumphant ending shows Wesley raised up by family, friends, and community.
A rich, captivating story that will resonate with readers. (author’s note, note from Cynthia Leitich Smith of Heartdrum, We Need Diverse Books statement) (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9780063064560
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Heartdrum
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
Readers will cheer the birth of this comedian.
Eleven-year-old Yumi Chung doesn’t have anyone to sit with at lunch, but she secretly harbors dreams of becoming a comedian. Shy + Asian + Girl = Comedian? Why, yes. Yes, it does.
Winston Preparatory Academy is a shy person’s nightmare. Yumi hides from the beautiful girls and the bullies who call her “Yu-meat” because she smells like her parents’ Korean barbecue restaurant. This summer, her parents are demanding that she go to Korean summer school, or hagwon, to get a near-perfect score on the high school entrance exam—because that is the only way to attend an elite college, like her superachiever sister, a 20-year-old med student. Yumi collects all of her fears and frustrations (and jokes) in her Super-Secret Comedy Notebook. When a case of mistaken identity allows her to attend a comedy camp taught by her YouTube idol, Yumi is too panicked to correct the problem—and then it spirals out of control. With wonderful supporting characters, strong pacing, and entertaining comedy bits, debut author Kim has woven a pop song of immigrant struggle colliding with comedy and Korean barbecue. With their feet in two different cultures, readers listen in on honest conversations, full of halting English and unspoken truths painting a realistic picture of 21st-century first-generation Americans—at least a Korean version. By becoming someone else, Yumi learns more about herself and her family in an authentic and hilarious way.
Readers will cheer the birth of this comedian. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-525-55497-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Kokila
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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