This ongoing coming-of-age saga proves as engaging and irresistible as ever.
Life just isn’t getting any easier for the young eponymous hero in this installment of Pollack’s middle-grade series.
Summer vacation is coming up, but Jillian “Jelly Bean” Kramer has received bad news: Britney, her best friend, will soon be moving away from Springdale, New Jersey, to live with her father in Brooklyn. Jelly Bean still has people she can confide in, including her older brother (one of three), Sam, and Grandma, her current roommate. But Sam is busy studying hard for college and working a part-time job, and Grandma’s new relationship with her boyfriend, Bob, could mean she’ll be leaving the Kramer household. Once Jelly Bean’s fifth-grade year begins, she finds herself dealing with friends who are no longer chummy. Nevertheless, she keeps her head up, taking on a science class experiment, trying out a brand-new sport, and offering comfort to someone who suffers a tragedy. And despite Jelly Bean having only just met her, Carolee, who’s dating the fifth-grader’s beloved Uncle Jack, is readily available for much-needed advice. Pollack’s recurring character, in her third outing, is evolving—Jelly Bean, while not immune to snarky remarks, now handles mean girls with confidence. Her typically obnoxious brother Joel is also “getting much more mature,” or so he claims, and Jack, who’s had problems in the past, enjoys a healthy relationship with Carolee. The narrative, as in the previous entries, is relaxed (“The pancakes were delicious. Everyone ate them with gobs of syrup. Jelly Bean ate till she was full”), even as it tackles real-world issues (for example, Britney, as the only Black girl among her friends, feels she doesn’t “fit in”). Readers will eagerly anticipate more from this wonderful protagonist, her family, and her dog, Roger-Over, who’s always there to lend a furry ear.
This ongoing coming-of-age saga proves as engaging and irresistible as ever.Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781787883369
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Nightingale Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 6, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
