Ginny Liao is overjoyed to see a new Chinese girl in her class, and she hopes they can be friends. Stephanie’s initial disinterest seems to have vanished when a note arrives asking Ginny over to play. Ginny is first surprised that Stephanie’s parents are Caucasian (it’s 1983) and then saddened to find that it was Stephanie’s mother who wrote the note. However, Ginny soldiers on with her attempt at making friends. At a party, Stephanie convinces Ginny to let her “borrow” a family heirloom, the Chinese zodiac animal of the title, and this becomes a constant worry for Ginny and the pivotal issue at story’s end. The problem of a Chinese parent bound to tradition and the need for a child to fit in is never far from the surface, as Ginny struggles to convince her parents that it’s okay to ask Santa for Christmas gifts, and her mother regularly expresses dismay at American customs. Stephanie’s disdain for all things Chinese only complicates matters, until Ginny discovers a way into Stephanie’s heart in a somewhat facile ending. While the girls are supposed to be in the second grade, they behave more like fourth- or fifth-graders, a misstep that is a shame, given the lack of good stories written for this age group. (Fiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-7636-3012-8
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2006
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Small, a very little fox, needs some reassurance from Large in the unconditional love department. If he is grim and grumpy, will he still be loved? “ ‘Oh, Small,’ said Large, ‘grumpy or not, I’ll always love you, no matter what.’ “ So it goes, in a gentle rhyme, as Large parries any number of questions that for Small are very telling. What if he were to turn into a young bear, or squishy bug, or alligator? Would a mother want to hug and hold these fearsome animals? Yes, yes, answers Large. “But does love wear out? Does it break or bend? Can you fix it or patch it? Does it mend?” There is comfort in Gliori’s pages, but it is a result of repetition and not the imagery; this is a quick fix, not an enduring one, but it eases Small’s fears and may well do the same for children. (Picture book. 2-6)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-202061-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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