A gentle, hilarious outdoor affair.
Abbie Wu’s middle school misadventures head out to the wilderness in this third installment.
Just when middle school had begun to feel like “a gigantic hamster wheel that never stopped spinning,” the sixth grade Pointdexter Middle School routine is interrupted with news of the longest field trip yet: Outdoor School. What awaits at a weeklong camp trip where “legends are born,” “legacies are built,” and “anything can happen”? A lot. While her classmates take to the change in scenery, Abbie’s excitement lasts for all of 11 minutes and 27 seconds. Abbie’s friends Jess, Logan, and Maxine all have “REALLY different ideas of how to use their time,” and her cabinmates don’t seem particularly interested in getting to know her. To top it off, there’s the annual “epic clash of campers vs. counselors”—high school students who include Abbie’s always put-together brother, Peter. And so Abbie 2.0 is born, and she’s going to do “things that [she] never thought [she] would (or could).” Though the story’s resolutions are neat, readers will find comfort in Abbie’s humorous and resilient approach to social and personal uncertainties. Vivat’s energetic drawings and expressive lettering capture Abbie’s charm, anxiety, and pluck, livening the familiar beats and scenarios of a camp story. A diverse supporting cast rallies with Chinese American Abbie, and particularly nice are the heart-to-hearts with teen figures.
A gentle, hilarious outdoor affair. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-239883-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel.
Sandy and his family, Japanese Canadians, experience hatred and incarceration during World War II.
Sandy Saito loves baseball, and the Vancouver Asahi ballplayers are his heroes. But when they lose in the 1941 semifinals, Sandy’s dad calls it a bad omen. Sure enough, in December 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor in the U.S. The Canadian government begins to ban Japanese people from certain areas, moving them to “dormitories” and setting a curfew. Sandy wants to spend time with his father, but as a doctor, his dad is busy, often sneaking out past curfew to work. One night Papa is taken to “where he [is] needed most,” and the family is forced into an internment camp. Life at the camp isn’t easy, and even with some of the Asahi players playing ball there, it just isn’t the same. Trying to understand and find joy again, Sandy struggles with his new reality and relationship with his father. Based on the true experiences of Japanese Canadians and the Vancouver Asahi team, this graphic novel is a glimpse of how their lives were affected by WWII. The end is a bit abrupt, but it’s still an inspiring and sweet look at how baseball helped them through hardship. The illustrations are all in a sepia tone, giving it an antique look and conveying the emotions and struggles. None of the illustrations of their experiences are overly graphic, making it a good introduction to this upsetting topic for middle-grade readers.
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel. (afterword, further resources) (Graphic historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0334-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
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