While middle-graders seeking pleasure reading will likely find the tale dull, extra materials—including a map, a glossary,...
Mihaela must adapt to her new life on Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula after emigrating from Croatia in the late 19th century.
Although Mihaela’s father left his farm in Croatia for the copper mines of Michigan to help support his family in the midst of a drought, his worsening eyesight makes it difficult to work. When American doctors can’t help, he asks his wife—an experienced healer—to join him, along with their three children. Based on author Carney-Coston’s great-grandparents’ immigration story, the tale follows the 11-year-old white girl as she adjusts to her new life: helping her mother run a boardinghouse for other copper miners; longing for her cousin, Katarina; and familiarizing herself with Michigan herbs to help her father see again. It certainly captures a moment in time, but the overall tone feels dated, and the story lacks drama; even when Mihaela’s brothers knock over a beehive and each receives manifold stings, the event happens offstage, and they are quickly healed before any real danger can set in. The ending also feels too neat, with Mihaela turning 12 and receiving a china doll for her birthday, along with the news that her entire family is moving to Michigan and that she can start going to school.
While middle-graders seeking pleasure reading will likely find the tale dull, extra materials—including a map, a glossary, historical images, and Carney-Coston’s own family recipes—add richness to this short novel, making it a good resource for classroom units on immigration. (Historical fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8143-4363-0
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Wayne State Univ. Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
A warm bundle of holiday cheer.
In a funny, feel-good tale, 12-year-old twins separated at birth meet by chance and try to pull off a family switch during the December holidays.
The girls, who are cued white, agree that it would be a delicious prank, but each has a personal motive, too: Aviva Davis, who was adopted by a culturally Jewish mom and a Black dad who was raised Christian, wonders what it’s like to celebrate Christmas. Budding author Holly Martin, who was adopted by a white-presenting single mom, sees a golden opportunity to gather experiences for a school writing assignment about facing her fears. In a plot as sweet as a Hanukkah jelly doughnut and twisty as a Christmas cinnamon roll, the pair just manages to bail one another out of a string of sticky situations—both hilarious and otherwise. They both learn something of the customs and meaning of the two holidays while working through tears and laughter—not to mention conflicts sparked by their very different personalities. Everything culminates in a holiday performance at a local senior center that will have readers rising up to cheer them on. Though their history remains tantalizingly mysterious, for the protagonists, who narrate alternating chapters, it’s mission accomplished and more: Aviva emerges feeling more secure in her Jewish identity, while anxious Holly discovers unexpected depths of courage.
A warm bundle of holiday cheer. (song lyrics) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9781250360670
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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