Still, Jules is a lovable star with good friends and a supportive family, living a frenetic city life that is constantly...
Second-grader Jules Bloom returns for another audition (Starring Jules (as Herself), 2013)—this time for a television sitcom—with New York City–sized tension and hilarity.
Full of energy and charisma, Jules has been asked to audition for a TV show about a New York City family; she would be the youngest of three siblings. Ain gives this bubbly girl a distinctive voice (“I am having so many feelings inside my body that I feel like a pan of shake-over-the-stovetop popcorn”) that brims with questions and confidence. Jules skitters from problem to problem like a city cab, balancing her audition with another project: cheering up her new friend Elinor, who is from London. Things are busy at school, too: Her ex–best friend Charlotte continues to steal the limelight there, receiving the plum role in the end-of-the-year play. Soon, the juggling of school, friends and an acting career produces conflicts that even her creative family cannot solve. The multiple problems nearly overwhelm the story; they keep the dramatic tension high, but they also leave a few quick loose ends to tie at the conclusion.
Still, Jules is a lovable star with good friends and a supportive family, living a frenetic city life that is constantly entertaining. Fans of Clementine and Gooney Bird Greene will look forward to the next book in the series. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-44354-8
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In this bland but worthy original tale old, Babba Zarrah sees that young Nikolai has a hole in his shoe and, having no other wool, secretly unravels part of the blanket she spreads out when children gather to hear her stories to knit him a pair of warm socks. As she sees others in need, the blanket mysteriously continues to shrink until it’s gone. When the mystified neighbors at last put two and two together they band together and unravel parts of their own blankets to give Babba Zarrah the wool for a new story blanket. Odriozola populates the small village setting with solemn, moon-faced figures, dresses the comfortably rounded Babba Zarrah in elaborately patterned housedresses and depicts both the old and the new carpets as colorful patchworks. In the end Babba Zarrah spots a hole in a young listener’s sweater just as she’s relating a new story about a community where everyone shares with everyone else—so much for the new blanket. A low-key discussion starter. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-56145-466-2
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2008
Delightfully smart and deliciously funny—don’t miss it.
The Dunderheads are back in another amusing caper that’s sure to please fans of their earlier exploits (The Dunderheads, 2009).
Once again, Einstein narrates with tongue-in-cheek, deadpan humor. Along with his friends, he expects the last day of school to mean that they are rid of their nemesis/teacher, the evil Miss Breakbone. Sadly, they are wrong. Children and teacher alike try out for roles as extras in a film and find themselves together again. Worse, Miss Breakbone fingers Spider as a thief when a cat burglar strikes. Einstein, of course, comes up with the perfect plan to capture the real thief, capitalizing as before on his friends’ varied interests and abilities. Unfortunately, his plan falls through, and all of the kids wind up in the poky. How they succeed in solving the crimes and turning the tables on their arch enemy, Miss Breakbone, strains credibility but entertains all the same. It's not as though credibility is the point, after all. At least half the fun comes from Roberts’ clever illustrations, created in watercolor, pen and ink. As before, each Dunderhead’s appearance reveals his or her individuality; new characters are equally clearly limned. Some sly references might go over the heads of the intended audience (don’t miss Liza as Sally Bowles in the line-up of aspiring extras), but readers of all ages will enjoy poring over the pages to find the hidden humor.
Delightfully smart and deliciously funny—don’t miss it. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-4543-4
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2012
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