Twelve-year-old Scarlett has been expelled from school one time too many following her parents’ divorce, so her mother sends her to live with her father, who she hates. He left her and her Mum in England while he ran off to Ireland to live with Claire and her nine-year-old daughter Holly. This fast-paced story follows Scarlett’s difficult adjustment to her new surroundings and family (which will soon include a new baby) as she rebels in typical teenage fashion by piercing her tongue, dying her hair red and being an obstinate vegetarian. Set in the rural countryside of Kilimoor, near Lough Choill, which boasts the magical Wishing Tree, Scarlett soon meets Kian, a boy of her own age, and his horse Midnight. He’s the only one she doesn’t feel the need to battle with her anger and bitterness. Perhaps he also has his own demons? This blend of teen angst and the magical will most definitely appeal to middle-school girls. (Fiction. 11-15)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-670-06068-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2006
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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Bullying is a topic that never lacks for interest, and here Preller concentrates on the kids who try to ignore or accommodate a bully to keep themselves safe. Victim David’s pain is evident from the first moment newcomer Eric sees him, but he tries not to acknowledge the reality before him. His mother is trying for a fresh start in this Long Island community, as his father has succumbed to schizophrenia and left her and their two boys on their own. Griffin, the bullying instigator, has charisma of sorts; he is a leader and yet suffers under his father’s bullying and aggression. For Eric to do the right thing is neither easy nor what he first wants to do, and the way he finds support among his classmates is shown in logical and believable small steps. Eminently discussable as a middle-school read-aloud, the narrative offers minimal subplots to detract from the theme. The role of girls is downplayed, except for classmate Mary, who is essential to the resolution, enhancing appeal across gender lines. (Fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-312-37906-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2009
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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The dreary prospect of spending a lifetime making caskets instead of wonderful inventions prompts a young orphan to snatch up his little sister and flee. Where? To the circus, of course.
Fortunately or otherwise, John and 6-year-old Page join up with Boz—sometime human cannonball for the seedy Wandering Wayfarers and a “vertically challenged” trickster with a fantastic gift for sowing chaos. Alas, the budding engineer barely has time to settle in to begin work on an experimental circus wagon powered by chicken poop and dubbed (with questionable forethought) the Autopsy. The hot pursuit of malign and indomitable Great-Aunt Beauregard, the Coggins’ only living relative, forces all three to leave the troupe for further flights and misadventures. Teele spins her adventure around a sturdy protagonist whose love for his little sister is matched only by his fierce desire for something better in life for them both and tucks in an outstanding supporting cast featuring several notably strong-minded, independent women (Page, whose glare “would kill spiders dead,” not least among them). Better yet, in Boz she has created a scene-stealing force of nature, a free spirit who’s never happier than when he’s stirring up mischief. A climactic clutch culminating in a magnificently destructive display of fireworks leaves the Coggin sibs well-positioned for bright futures. (Illustrations not seen.)
A sly, side-splitting hoot from start to finish. (Adventure. 11-13)Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234510-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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