A passionate novel uplifting young activists.
Eager to address climate change, Connecticut eighth graders also confront economic inequality, racism, and politics.
Bearsville Climate Club is an innovative pilot program: Its students will study climate science and develop community-based initiatives to address environmental concerns. Observant young naturalist Mary Kate Murphy applied along with her bat-loving BFF, Lucy Perlman (both are White), but Lucy is now kept home by a mysterious illness. Initially lost by herself, Mary Kate warms to Mr. Lu, the club’s charismatic Chinese American teacher, who pairs her with composting enthusiast Shawn Hill, a Black student who commutes from Hartford to their better-resourced suburban school. As the students explore their priorities—for example, growing hemp, eliminating leaf blowers, addressing disposable fashion, ending meat consumption—they also learn about and discuss racism’s toxic legacy in their towns and families. Mary Kate is chagrined to learn that wealthier, predominantly White communities, including hers, outsource their trash to the incinerator polluting Shawn’s neighborhood. When the longtime mayor makes Shawn’s out-of-district address an excuse to invalidate the club’s application for a community grant, the students take action, which proves an energizing antidote to feeling helpless about the future. Fast-paced and often funny, this stand-alone companion to Dress Coded (2020) has a similar mosaic structure. Podcast transcripts, checklists, school assignments, and short vignettes showcase Firestone’s gift for illustrating how apparently unrelated issues intersect—or collide—while realistically portraying the voices of middle schoolers.
A passionate novel uplifting young activists. (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: July 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-984816-46-7
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
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A witty story about feeling good in your own skin that rings true emotionally.
A humorous coming-of-age novel with zits, separated parents, complicated friendships, and therapy dogs.
What does a volcano have in common with a pepperoni pizza? They both describe ways that 13-year-old Ellis Starr views her acne-prone skin, which she grades as being on the 99th percentile of the Acne Scale of Doom. Life gets more complicated when her zits swell together in fiery red blotches and the eighth grade capstone project looms over her head. Ellis likes to collect random scientific facts but can’t land on a subject that’s exciting enough. She feels like no one is really listening to her, including her parents (who can’t afford to divorce) and her best friend, Aggy (who has beautiful blemish-free skin). The stressors keep piling up, and the fiery red blemishes proliferate despite home remedies like toothpaste and special soap. When Ellis realizes that hanging out with Rocco, her Aunt Lydia’s golden retriever, helps her de-stress, she lands on her capstone subject—therapy dogs—and connects with her empathetic aunt, who serves as an insightful guide. Wyman authentically portrays multidimensional teens and adults, expertly pacing the intergenerational interactions among characters who care for each other but sometimes need to learn to listen to different perspectives. Ellis is white, and Aggy is of Indian and German descent.
A witty story about feeling good in your own skin that rings true emotionally. (author’s note) (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: March 10, 2026
ISBN: 9780374393359
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
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