A first-rate exploration of the quiet heroism that keeps unpopular kids moving ahead toward a happier future. (Fiction. 9-12)
The pack of dorks, a group of unpopular fifth-graders who have banded together, are back for a third outing.
Lucy, fighting against impending puberty, sees her small group of friends changing. April has restyled her frizzy hair and enrolled in a magnet school where she can leave her unfortunate reputation behind. Sam, while saving toddler twins from getting hit by a car, is badly injured. He’s a hero—a status narrator Lucy deeply envies—but his promising gymnastics career is over, and he’s filled with anger that too often is turned on Lucy. Amanda admits that she’s never known her mother, a traveling fortuneteller in a Renaissance fair, but Lucy finds a way to share her own. Sheldon is on a mission, rejected by many of his classmates, to save the rare turtles that are hatching in the playground mulch. Guided by an outstanding teacher, Lucy decides to run for class president, mostly just to make her own discerning point of view heard, despite relentless, realistic harassment from popular boy Tom, also a candidate. Lucy’s heartfelt voice, as she develops a growing understanding—and acceptance—of herself and her friends, is believable and moving, returning to the wisdom and deep emotional resonance that elevated to excellence the first of this series. The book adheres to the white default.
A first-rate exploration of the quiet heroism that keeps unpopular kids moving ahead toward a happier future. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: May 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5107-3144-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An exploration of family bonds that reaches for profound themes but doesn’t always trust readers to grasp them independently.
A boy struggling with his blended family discovers a tree with the power to transform his stepbrother.
Twelve-year-old Denver feels unmoored by his 8-year-old stepbrother Harlan, who constantly breaks things and demands attention. When Denver meets Spiro, an ancient ponderosa pine with magical abilities, he accepts Spiro’s offer to temporarily transform Harlan into a tree—only to discover that everyone, including his parents, has forgotten Harlan’s very existence. Denver finds an ally in Mae, a local girl with synesthesia who perceives people through color halos and creates unusual ice cream flavors. As Denver works to reverse the transformation, he learns that Spiro became isolated from the forest’s root network after surviving a devastating fire, paralleling Denver’s own emotional disconnect from his changing family. The forest setting provides rich sensory details, and Mae’s unique perspective adds depth to the magical elements. The metaphor connecting tree root networks to human relationships occasionally feels heavy-handed, however, with characters explicitly drawing comparisons that readers might prefer to discover themselves. Denver’s character growth from resentment to acceptance feels authentic, though his transformation happens somewhat rapidly. For the most part, physical descriptors are minimal.
An exploration of family bonds that reaches for profound themes but doesn’t always trust readers to grasp them independently. (author’s note) (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
ISBN: 9780593860304
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A delicious confection and much more: it shows that the human heart is delicate, that it matters, and that it must be...
One strange afternoon, 10-year-old Micah Tuttle finds out that magic is real.
Micah always thought Grandpa Ephraim’s wild stories of the centuries-old Circus Mirandus were spun solely for his amusement. But when his dying grandfather writes a letter to the “Lightbender,” hoping to call in the miracle the magician had promised him as a boy, Micah learns the stories were true, and the appearance of Ms. Chintzy, the circus’ cantankerous parrot messenger, clinches the deal. Happily, Micah finds a loyal if somewhat challenging friend to help him track down the elusive light-bending magician: the magic-leery, science-minded Jenny Mendoza. Their budding rapport is nuanced and complex, a refreshing illustration of how absolute like-mindedness is not a prerequisite for friendship. On one level, the book is a fantastical circus romp, with fortunetelling vultures and “a wallaby that could burp the Greek alphabet.” On another, it’s both serious and thick with longing: Micah’s ache for the companionship of his once-vital guardian-grandfather; Grandpa Ephraim’s boyhood yearning for his absent father, as fleshed out in flashbacks; the circus founders’ desire to keep enchantment alive in a world where “faith is such a fragile thing.”
A delicious confection and much more: it shows that the human heart is delicate, that it matters, and that it must be handled with care. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: June 2, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-525-42843-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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