Celebrates a disappointingly exclusive dream.
The evolution of a New York City corner store reflects 20th-century American history.
From Ellis Island immigration through women’s suffrage to the civil rights movement, Wittenstein endeavors “to better understand the past by looking at just one building.” The titular Oscar, a Polish immigrant, opens a barbershop in 1899. Over the next 100 years, the businesses reflect the times: a Great Depression soup kitchen, a World War II Army recruitment center, and so on. The Howdeshells’ illustrations, Rockwellian in feel, are beautifully rendered and offer many details to examine—and historical cues for adult readers to point out. While Oscar appears only briefly at the beginning, the title is apt, as Wittenstein’s device means his synopsis of American history is told primarily from a White, European lens. Unfortunately, aside from one Puerto Rican shop proprietor, Moises, who comes along fairly late in the narrative, children of color will mostly see reflections of themselves as side characters. Their inclusion makes for diverse scenes but ultimately conveys idealistic portraits of integrated American life even in the eras prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For a more diverse slant on New York City immigration, consider Dave Eggers and Shawn Harris’ Her Right Foot (2017). (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 59.3% of actual size.)
Celebrates a disappointingly exclusive dream. (author's note) (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-525-70769-1
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Rodale Kids
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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