An unexceptional story of family turmoil.
Sisters are doing it for themselves. (For diametrically opposite reasons.)
Twelve-year-old Autumn’s summer plans for exploring the delights of Manhattan with her best friend—going on hunts for the best pizza joints, ice cream parlors, and tea shops—are ruined when her mother becomes engaged to Harrison (aka Harristinks), her boring boyfriend of two years who has a boring daughter of Autumn’s age called Linnea. The wedding will take place in only one month’s time. Suddenly, Autumn, her mother, and her college-bound brother are moving to East Hammond, Connecticut, and Autumn’s world is completely upended. She hatches a plan to break up the happy couple and recruits Linnea to go along, tempting her with the idea that both families will be better off separate. Linnea seemingly agrees, but it turns out that she may have some plans of her own. The story is droll, if somewhat predictable, but overplays the self-centered bride trope to the point that readers may actively be rooting for the wedding to fail long after the shallow resolution that is supposed to realign Autumn with her mother. Savvy and sympathetic readers may question why Autumn is being deprived of visiting the best friend in the city whom she desperately misses when Harrison and Linnea took the train into the city weekly during the courtship. Main characters read White by default; there is a charming same-sex crush plotline.
An unexceptional story of family turmoil. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56868-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
Simplistic, but a straight shot on goal.
Despite poor first impressions, an aggressive new student earns a spot as goalkeeper on the local soccer team.
Loud, pushy new arrival Shane definitely seems to come with an attitude problem in this simple tale, told from the perspective of one of Shane’s teammates and originally published in 2021 in the U.K. A few days later, however, the source of the chip on his shoulder becomes clear when the North Park Juniors take the pitch. When Shane shows up to play, his bossy, verbally abusive stepfather, Mick, is in tow, screaming orders and insults from the sidelines. The story, which is printed with what the publisher calls “dyslexia-friendly fonts and paper tones,” is laid out with extra spacing between the short sentences and paragraphs. The author also takes multiple breaks to examine historical feats and foibles of renowned goalies of the past. The plot goes on to follow a fairly direct course. After the police haul Mick away in the wake of a chair-throwing tantrum, a more emotionally stable Shane shows up the following weekend to perform heroic exploits in a hard-fought climactic match. Physical descriptions in the text are minimal; young players and adults in Chalik’s frequent illustrations are woodenly drawn but feature a mix of light- and dark-skinned faces.
Simplistic, but a straight shot on goal. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781454954842
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An amusing road map to bad behavior but also a fairly subtle reminder of the culpability of mere bystanders to nastiness....
BFFs George Martinez and Lilly Bloch get themselves into a difficult position when they become the captains for opposing fifth-grade teams during their school’s spirit week.
Lilly is way too competitive, whereas George has always preferred the path of least resistance. Lilly’s spirit seems to fuel in her teammates the fire to win, no matter how. Meanwhile, George is too passive to rein in his fervent classmates, who are equally willing to do whatever it takes to get the prize. Speculation on the mystery prize at stake gets wilder and more improbable as the week passes. Both teams cheat, engaging in a series of dirty tricks that drive a wedge between George and Lilly but that neither does much to control. It’s only after a series of funny, messy disasters that the pair finally realizes that standing by and letting their teammates cheat without intervening makes them guilty too. For the last day’s event, a field day, Lilly and George work together, trying to derail any planned misbehavior—of which there is plenty—each eventually confronting the worst of the bad kids and their own demons as well. Related in distinctive alternating voices, the tale features ample over-the-top situations with character development taking second place to high jinks. George has light brown skin, like his evidently Latino dad, and Lilly is white.
An amusing road map to bad behavior but also a fairly subtle reminder of the culpability of mere bystanders to nastiness. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-11688-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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