Julie and Lydia discover just how rocky the road to romance can be in the sixth installment of Ignatow’s Popularity Papers.
Things have gotten complicated ever since Roland kissed Julie. She isn’t sure if he wants to be her boyfriend or just friends—until he asks her on a date to the movies. Julie navigates her first relationship, guided by plenty of questionable advice from meddling classmate Jane and rules from a very worried Papa Dad (“If at least one of Julie’s fathers does not like her date then she is not allowed to date them. Ever”). Meanwhile, Lydia learns that her mother is marrying her former soccer coach, Eric. Lydia and her sister, Melody, implement Operation Sabotage to stop the wedding and keep Eric from leaving his children in England—the way their father left them years earlier. Through their shared notebook, Julie and Lydia detail the changes love brings to their lives. Although the girls have plenty of problems to solve, their quick banter keeps the tone light. Lydia’s and Julie’s brightly colored doodles bring Ignatow’s story to life and showcase their personalities, but the book’s passed-notebook format feels forced, especially as the girls rehash experiences they’ve shared together. Still, fans of the series will be rewarded with plenty of giggle-worthy antics from Julie and Lydia.
A fizzy, quirky tale of adolescent angst that has, perhaps, outgrown its format. (Graphic fiction. 9-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0859-6
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In this series debut, Maggie Sinclair tracks down a dognapper and solves a mystery about the noises in the walls of her Brooklyn brownstone apartment building. The 12-year-old heroine, who shares a middle name—Brooklyn—with her twin brother, Finn, is juggling two dogwalking jobs she’s keeping secret from her parents, and somehow she attracts the ire of the dogs’ former walker. Maggie tells her story in the first person—she’s self-possessed and likable, even when her clueless brother invites her ex–best friend, now something of an enemy, to their shared 12th birthday party. Maggie’s attention to details helps her to figure out why dogs seem to be disappearing and why there seem to be mice in the walls of her building, though astute readers will pick up on the solution to at least one mystery before Maggie solves it. There’s a brief nod to Nancy Drew, but the real tensions in this contemporary preteen story are more about friendship and boy crushes than skullduggery. Still, the setting is appealing, and Maggie is a smart and competent heroine whose personal life is just as interesting as—if not more than—her detective work. (Mystery. 10-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 967-1-59990-525-9
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2010
Eleven-year-old Griffin Bing is “the man with the plan.” If something needs doing, Griffin carefully plans a fix and his best friend Ben usually gets roped in as assistant. When the town council ignores his plan for a skate park on the grounds of the soon-to-be demolished Rockford House, Griffin plans a camp-out in the house. While there, he discovers a rare Babe Ruth baseball card. His family’s money worries are suddenly a thing of the past, until unscrupulous collectables dealer S. Wendell Palomino swindles him. Griffin and Ben plan to snatch the card back with a little help. Pet-lover Savannah whispers the blood-thirsty Doberman. Rock-climber “Pitch” takes care of scaling the house. Budding-actor Logan distracts the nosy neighbor. Computer-expert Melissa hacks Palomino’s e-mail and the house alarm. Little goes according to plan, but everything turns out all right in this improbable but fun romp by the prolific and always entertaining Korman. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-439-90344-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2008
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