Booker Jones is an aspiring novelist, having already completed several works including Worms from the Planet Spaghetti and Moon Mummy. But since his ailing grandfather moved in and took over his room, Booker has had to live and work under the dining room table. As he works on his latest opus, Space Cows, Booker has to deal with an obnoxious sister, frazzled mother, absent father, writer's block, and a plan to change the school mascot from the Wolf Pack to the Fighting Pickles, against which he has been drafted to write a speech. Duffey (How to be Cool in the Third Grade, 1993, etc.) has rolled two books in one. At the core is a wonderful and touching story of a boy who finds unexpected inspiration in and compassion for the plight of his stricken grandfather. Around it is a humorous tale of a boy in love with words who turns everything in his life into ridiculous stories. Liberally spiced with references to famous children's writers and books, quotes from Booker's realistically childish narratives, letters to publishers, and thoughts on writing, this adroit novel about a gifted and eccentric boy will appeal to other young bookworms and would-be writers. (Fiction. 10+)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-670-86007-7
Page Count: 118
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1995
Extending her title's potent image, Hearne groups incisive glimpses of people, places, rites of passage, and assorted epiphanies under poetically descriptive headings: ``Outside,'' ``City Sights,'' ``Insights,'' ``Second Sight,'' ``Close-ups,'' ``Dark and Light,'' ``Long View.'' The outside views, like the title poem, are evocative and allusive—even here, there's more than meets the eye. But Hearne's forte is the inward-looking gaze—Penelope ruminating on Odysseus' homecoming—''Honor is the common core, like the dog/that waits beside the door...Can honor live with love, can love/survive the tests of self-respect?'' With deft touches of wordplay and wit, often rueful or quizzical but always thoughtful, an appealingly personal collection. Beautifully composed b&w photos of imaginatively appropriate subjects introduce each section. (Poetry. 12+)
Pub Date: April 30, 1991
ISBN: 0-689-50530-2
Page Count: 80
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1991
The effects of the simplest weather fronts and the clouds associated with them throughout the year. Warm and cold fronts are shown using the symbols made familiar by TV meteorologists; a handy cloud-classification chart shows the shape and height of common clouds. Each page includes a carefully selected photo of the sky and cloud cover, a vertical cross-section drawing of the clouds with their height in both feet and miles, and a line drawing showing the fronts. The photos were taken in an area of Maine called ``thunderstorm alley.'' An attractive, useful guide. Glossary; brief index. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: May 15, 1991
ISBN: 0-374-38261-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
