by Carol Weston ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2002
The subtitle and cover set the tone, writing style, and scene for this breezy, fun, lighthearted read that quite naturally folds in contemporary issues of breast cancer fears and the meaning of intolerance. Told in diary format like its predecessor (The Diary of Melanie Martin, 2000), Mel’s bubbly personality recounts the family’s summer trip to Amsterdam when her mom, an art teacher, receives a grant to study van Gogh. Mel’s BFF (Best Friend Forever), Cecily, is invited to go along while her mom undergoes and recovers from breast cancer surgery. Mel’s excitement over having Cecily on the trip quickly turns to annoyance when her best friend pays more attention to Matt, her six-and-a-half-year-old brother. Mel’s daily diary entries recount the week’s adventures that include lost luggage (for days), Matt’s lost baby tooth, and her sense of loss of parental approval and feeling left out. The diary device works especially well: Mel’s “quippy” poems are clever and funny and express her feelings; she phonetically spells out Dutch words; and her penchant for using words three times for emphasis are all so, so, so right for the voice of the character. The venue of Amsterdam is an opportunity for Mel to discover the Dutch masters, to relate passages from Anne Frank’s diary to her own life, and to compare the Dutch ways of doing things to home in New York City. This can stand alone without having read the first and the ending leaves the door open for more stories. Go, go, go girl. (Fiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: May 14, 2002
ISBN: 0-375-82195-3
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2002
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by Henry Winkler ; Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Scott Garrett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 14, 2014
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda.
Hank Zipzer, poster boy for dyslexic middle graders everywhere, stars in a new prequel series highlighting second-grade trials and triumphs.
Hank’s hopes of playing Aqua Fly, a comic-book character, in the upcoming class play founder when, despite plenty of coaching and preparation, he freezes up during tryouts. He is not particularly comforted when his sympathetic teacher adds a nonspeaking role as a bookmark to the play just for him. Following the pattern laid down in his previous appearances as an older child, he gets plenty of help and support from understanding friends (including Ashley Wong, a new apartment-house neighbor). He even manages to turn lemons into lemonade with a quick bit of improv when Nick “the Tick” McKelty, the sneering classmate who took his preferred role, blanks on his lines during the performance. As the aforementioned bully not only chokes in the clutch and gets a demeaning nickname, but is fat, boastful and eats like a pig, the authors’ sensitivity is rather one-sided. Still, Hank has a winning way of bouncing back from adversity, and like the frequent black-and-white line-and-wash drawings, the typeface is designed with easy legibility in mind.
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-448-48239-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
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by Bill Harley ; illustrated by Adam Gustavson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2013
Readers will be waiting to see how Charlie faces his next challenge in a series that marks a lovely change of pace from the...
Charlie Bumpers is doomed. The one teacher he never wanted in the whole school turns out to be his fourth-grade teacher.
Charlie recalls third grade, when he accidentally hit the scariest teacher in the whole school with his sneaker. “I know all about you, Charlie Bumpers,” she says menacingly on the first day of fourth grade. Now, in addition to all the hardships of starting school, he has gotten off on the wrong foot with her. Charlie’s dry and dramatic narrative voice clearly reveals the inner life of a 9-year-old—the glass is always half empty, especially in light of a series of well-intentioned events gone awry. It’s quite a litany: “Hitting Mrs. Burke in the head with the sneaker. The messy desk. The swinging on the door. The toilet paper. And now this—the shoe on the roof.” Harley has teamed once again with illustrator Gustavson (Lost and Found, 2012) to create a real-life world in which a likable kid must face the everyday terrors of childhood: enormous bullies, looming teachers and thick gym coaches with huge pointing fingers. Into this series opener, Harley magically weaves the simple lesson that people, even teachers, can surprise you.
Readers will be waiting to see how Charlie faces his next challenge in a series that marks a lovely change of pace from the sarcasm of Wimpy Kid. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-56145-732-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
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by Bill Harley ; illustrated by Adam Gustavson
by Bill Harley ; illustrated by Adam Gustavson
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