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ELIZA BING IS (NOT) A STAR

From the Eliza Bing series , Vol. 2

Eliza Bing is a star on the rise.

Veteran nonfiction author Van Vleet returns to fiction in this second installment of the Eliza Bing series.

After a summer spent making friends, losing friends, and discovering a passion for taekwondo, Eliza Bing is ready to tackle the sixth grade alongside her best and only close friend, Annie. Eliza has not had a great track record socially, largely as a consequence of her ADHD, but is determined to be the “best best friend” anyone could ask for. Operation BBF launches Eliza out of her comfort zone and into the cast of the school play, a fractured-fairy-tale twist on “Cinderella.” Though Eliza is there to support Annie’s theatrical aspirations, she soon finds her ADHD gives her unique skills in improv and comedic timing, causing jealous feelings that lead to a rift that threatens the girls’ friendship. Van Vleet rounds out the primary plot with family drama, a budding romance, and Eliza’s quest for her next taekwondo belt. Though stymied at almost every turn, she learns to go with the flow as lessons learned from improv and athletic pursuits converge with her social and familial relationships. As a first-person narrator, Eliza is endearing and authentic; one looks forward to her ongoing adventures in growing up. Eliza, Annie, and the majority of the supporting characters present as white.

Eliza Bing is a star on the rise. (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-8234-4024-5

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Holiday House

Review Posted Online: July 29, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018

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CHARLOTTE'S WEB

The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...

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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

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LET IT GLOW

A warm bundle of holiday cheer.

In a funny, feel-good tale, 12-year-old twins separated at birth meet by chance and try to pull off a family switch during the December holidays.

The girls, who are cued white, agree that it would be a delicious prank, but each has a personal motive, too: Aviva Davis, who was adopted by a culturally Jewish mom and a Black dad who was raised Christian, wonders what it’s like to celebrate Christmas. Budding author Holly Martin, who was adopted by a white-presenting single mom, sees a golden opportunity to gather experiences for a school writing assignment about facing her fears. In a plot as sweet as a Hanukkah jelly doughnut and twisty as a Christmas cinnamon roll, the pair just manages to bail one another out of a string of sticky situations—both hilarious and otherwise. They both learn something of the customs and meaning of the two holidays while working through tears and laughter—not to mention conflicts sparked by their very different personalities. Everything culminates in a holiday performance at a local senior center that will have readers rising up to cheer them on. Though their history remains tantalizingly mysterious, for the protagonists, who narrate alternating chapters, it’s mission accomplished and more: Aviva emerges feeling more secure in her Jewish identity, while anxious Holly discovers unexpected depths of courage.

A warm bundle of holiday cheer. (song lyrics) (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024

ISBN: 9781250360670

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024

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