Fans of Jules’ previous books will enjoy seeing the soon-to-be–third-grader back in action as she exuberantly experiences...
Even though she’ll be spending it in Quebec filming a movie, child actress Jules’ summer is not off to a good start.
First, Charlotte gets to go to acting camp, and Elinor is returning to England, leaving Jules feeling lonely. Next, a birthday week with her father is replaced by a road trip with her annoying family friend, Teddy. Finally, teen star Emma Saxony proves to be a rude introduction to the world of celebrities. Nonetheless, Jules continues to expand her world with every challenge, and she explains such new words as enunciate and stealth along the way. Each chapter is full of diverting and dramatic plot twists, making the pacing of the book somewhat breathless, as many problems are given the same urgency. It is obvious that Jules is out of her comfort zone. Luckily, through the help of Elinor’s emails, the support of megastar Rick Hinkley and the love of her family, Jules is able to keep an even keel.
Fans of Jules’ previous books will enjoy seeing the soon-to-be–third-grader back in action as she exuberantly experiences the busy life of a budding television and film star. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-44356-2
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A heartfelt forward pass from one generation to the next (and the next).
A pigskin-themed paean to family and family traditions.
As images depict a football-shaped newborn growing up, marrying, and helping to produce another—the second actually dressed in a football onesie, which is adorable—sports podcaster Holloway notes rookie season fumbles and triumphs, team huddles on the sofa to watch the big games, the passage of quarters and seasons, and major life events (like the wedding: “One day you may get drafted / To a franchise of your own”). All the while, Holloway promises to cheer from the sidelines in victory or defeat, to be there when needed, and to give each “wonderful expansion / of our football family” both a welcome and proper coaching. The family in Jang’s shiny, reasonably realistic illustrations includes three children. The verse’s language is nonspecific enough to apply to offspring of any gender as well as adoptees. In school settings and on playing fields of several sorts, the child, at various ages, light-skinned like their parents, joins a diverse group of peers, including one wearing a hijab and another who uses a hearing aid, while the child’s own family includes a dark-skinned sibling and, by the end, a child with, like their spouse, Asian features. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A heartfelt forward pass from one generation to the next (and the next). (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-84715-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
The message is worthy, but this phoned-in follow-up doesn’t add anything significant.
A color-themed vision of what school should be like.
In what amounts to a rehash of The World Needs More Purple People (2020), Bell and Hart address adult as well as young readers to explain what “curious and kind you” can do to make school, or for that matter the universe, a better place. Again culminating in the vague but familiar “JUST. BE. YOU!” the program remains much the same—including asking questions both “universe-sized” (“Could you make a burrito larger than a garbage truck?”) and “smaller, people-sized” (i.e., personal), working hard to learn and make things, offering praise and encouragement, speaking up and out, laughing together, and listening to others. In the illustrations, light-skinned, blond-haired narrator Penny poses amid a busy, open-mouthed, diverse cast that includes a child wearing a hijab and one who uses a wheelchair. Wiseman opts to show fewer grown-ups here, but the children are the same as in the earlier book, and a scene showing two figures blowing chocolate milk out of their noses essentially recycles a visual joke from the previous outing. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
The message is worthy, but this phoned-in follow-up doesn’t add anything significant. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: June 21, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-43490-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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