Representations of autistic kids’ friendships are valuable, but this is not the cat’s meow.
A cat in need of a home finds a girl in need of a friend.
Franklin, a massive Maine coon cat who’s been homeless since he was accidentally separated from his person, finds a temporary new home. Franklin is persuaded to come inside by Chester, the therapy dog for Gus, an autistic boy who has seizures—a duo readers met in McGovern’s Chester and Gus (2017). Cat allergies mean Gus’ folks can’t be Franklin’s forever family, but he’s optimistic about Amelia, Gus’ classmate. Amelia adores cats, but Gus is her only friend. She’s an anxious kid, sometimes bullied and sometimes mean herself (once, she’s quite racist about a Korean American classmate’s food). Her parents pressure her to be a mathlete, but though she’s good at arithmetic, Amelia struggles with other types of math and hates being on the team. Conveniently, Franklin can communicate with her (what initially seems like realistic interspecies communication becomes a psychic bond), and he coaches her. Because of Chester, Franklin’s learned that you need to act like a friend to have friends. Amelia’s mother explores whether Amelia might have autism, though differently expressed than in mostly nonverbal Gus, while Franklin convinces Amelia to go back to mathletes. Outsider points of view are common in novels about autistic people, but a pet narrator who says that autism’s not shameful because autistic people just behave like cats is not quite the empowering message it’s intended to be. Main human characters read as White.
Representations of autistic kids’ friendships are valuable, but this is not the cat’s meow. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-246332-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2021
A fizzy mix of low humor and brisk action, with promise of more of both to come.
Heroic deeds await Isaac after his little sister runs into the school basement and is captured by elves.
Even though their school is a spooky old castle transplanted stone by stone from Germany, Isaac and his two friends, Max and Emma, little suspect that an entire magical kingdom lies beneath—a kingdom run by elves, policed by oversized rats in uniform, and populated by captives who start out human but undergo transformative “weirding.” These revelations await Isaac and sidekicks as they nerve themselves to trail his bossy younger sib, Lily, through a shadowy storeroom and into a tunnel, across a wide lake, and into a city lit by half-human fireflies, where they are cast together into a dungeon. Can they escape before they themselves start changing? Gibson pits his doughty rescuers against such adversaries as an elven monarch who emits truly kingly belches and a once-human jailer with a self-picking nose. Tests of mettle range from a riddle contest to a face-off with the menacing head rat Shelfliver, and a helter-skelter chase finally leads rescuers and rescued back to the aboveground. Plainly, though, there is further rescuing to be done.
A fizzy mix of low humor and brisk action, with promise of more of both to come. (Fantasy. 9-11)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-62370-255-7
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015
A smart, fresh take on an old favorite makes for a terrific series kickoff
A modern Sherlock Holmes retelling brings an 11-year-old black John Watson into the sphere of know-it-all 9-year-old white detective Shelby Holmes.
John's an Army brat who's lived in four states already. Now, with his parents' divorce still fresh, the boy who's lived only on military bases must explore the wilds of Harlem. His new life in 221A Baker St. begins inauspiciously, as before he's even finished moving in, his frizzy-haired neighbor blows something up: "BOOM!" But John's great at making friends, and Shelby certainly seems like an interesting kid to know. Oddly loquacious, brusque, and extremely observant, Shelby's locally famous for solving mysteries. John’s swept up in her detecting when a wealthy, brown-skinned classmate enlists their help in the mysterious disappearance of her beloved show dog, Daisy. Whatever could have happened to the prizewinning Cavalier King Charles spaniel? Has she been swiped by a jealous competitor? Has Daisy’s trainer—mysteriously come into enough money to take a secret weekend in Cozumel—been placing bets against his own dog? Brisk pacing, likable characters, a few silly Holmes jokes ("I'm Petunia Cumberbatch," says Shelby while undercover), and a diverse neighborhood, carefully and realistically described by John, are ingredients for success.
A smart, fresh take on an old favorite makes for a terrific series kickoff . (Mystery. 9-11)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-68119-051-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
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