A quietly affecting portrait of an aspiring activist logophile as a black Philly girl.
The NAACP Image Award–nominated author of Riding Chance (2016) cultivates another tale of blossoming blackness in the soil of her hometown of Philadelphia.
Geneva “Neva” Beane, 12, uses her Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary and its definitions to help her describe and navigate the world as much as the author uses the vocabulary words to frame each chapter. Neva’s world is filled with the increasingly agitating presence of her 16-year-old lifeguard brother, Clayton, and her lovingly well-intentioned, sometimes brusque grandparents Nana and Granddad, who are rearing the siblings while their parents pursue their musical dreams in Europe. It shifts when she reassesses her developing body, her familial relationships, and her friendship with her bestie, Jamila, through the upending presence of Michelle Overton, the 13-year-old across-the-street neighbor whom Neva describes as “hot and happening” and whom Granddad and Nana suspect of being “trouble” by involving Clayton in social activism, which they eschew for quieter forms of community service. Soon, Michelle’s friendship with Clayton leads to her befriending Neva, creating escalating tension between Neva and Jamila as well as Neva and her guardians. Will Neva’s belief in words help her believe in herself, her body, her family and friends, and her place in her politically expanding world? Through Neva’s intelligent narration, Kendall explores contemporary debates to young readers, making them plain and personal.
A quietly affecting portrait of an aspiring activist logophile as a black Philly girl. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-32489-1
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
The author leaves much to be explored and explained in future episodes, but fans of Unfortunate Events will be willing to...
In this promising series opener, a homicidal maniac stalks two children through a spooky old house that’s far larger inside than outside.
Newly moved in across the street, 10-year-old Fernie chases her errant cat through the front door of the mist-wreathed mansion one night, quickly losing herself in a seemingly endless tangle of dark halls and dim rooms. There she meets Gustav, a pale and perpetually somber age-mate who explains that the house is home to millions of unattached shadows—and that she is in immediate danger from the People Taker, evil minion of the Dark Country’s would-be ruler Lord Obsidian. The ensuing flight takes the two young people through a library containing all the books never written, a room filled with the shadows of all the dinosaurs that ever were and like repositories to a climactic struggle with the genial (as it turns out) villain at the lip of the Pit leading to the Dark Country. Along the way Fernie discovers that though shadows are a little more substantial within the house, even in the outside world they are not really attached to solid bodies and actually have volition and lives of their own. Who would have guessed? Margiotta opens each chapter with appropriately atmospheric scenes of big-eyed waifs against undulating backgrounds.
The author leaves much to be explored and explained in future episodes, but fans of Unfortunate Events will be willing to wait. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-448-45833-5
Page Count: 232
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: April 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
A memorable, edge-of-the-seat escapade that will enthrall confirmed fans and newbies alike.
The penultimate episode in this well-crafted series pits apprentice wizard Septimus and allies against a relentless tide of Things bent on overwhelming the Magyk that protects the town of Castle and establishing a penumbral Darke Domaine.
Their 14th birthdays become more battles for survival than celebrations for Sep and Princess Jenna when she is captured by the powerful Port Witch Coven. His planned visit to the deadly subterranean Darke Halls takes on special urgency after the Darke finds an opening in the palace and begins pouring out in a deadly tide through the streets. As usual, not only is the cast, particularly the large and tumultuous Heap family, sharply drawn both in the tale and in Zug’s finely detailed character studies at the chapter heads, but the danger and the spellcasting alike seem vividly real and credible. Lightening the load with humorous byplay and tucking in plenty of ghosts, strong-willed characters, deft literary references—a character named Bertie Bott, a house on There And Back Again Row—and a particularly exciting dragon battle, Sage expertly weaves multiple new and continuing plotlines together. An appendix ties up what loose ends it can while leaving the door open for the conclusion.
A memorable, edge-of-the-seat escapade that will enthrall confirmed fans and newbies alike. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: June 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-124242-7
Page Count: 656
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
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