A compelling story with a smart and courageous protagonist.
A Charlotte, North Carolina, seventh grader is disturbed to discover that her favorite teacher has been accused of inappropriate behavior.
Calla Howard and best friends Jacoby Park and Charlee Turner are looking forward to the end of the school year when EboniiNews, a local blogger and YouTuber, reports that some girls from her teacher’s previous school accused him of sexual harassment. Hugely popular Mr. Chavis taught graphic design at her high-performing school, and Calla had so much fun in his class that she struggles with the idea that he might be a bad person. Her parents question her about whether he was ever inappropriate with her, but Calla doesn’t share her jumbled feelings. She isn’t ready to believe he’s guilty but also doesn’t agree that the girls are lying, as others are saying. After EboniiNews receives a cease-and-desist letter and must remove the post about Mr. Chavis, Calla and her friends set up an account, @listentothegirls, for any “girl who has been too scared to tell their story—about him or anyone or anything else.” Calla starts reconsidering her interactions with her teacher, realizing that she and other girls were being groomed and overcoming her fears by speaking out. This well-balanced coming-of-age story explores a highly charged subject with insight and sensitivity. Centering the narrative around Calla’s close-knit African American family adds another rich layer.
A compelling story with a smart and courageous protagonist. (author’s note) (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9780593651711
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK TO SCREEN
Brava!
From award winner Telgemeier (Smile, 2010), a pitch-perfect graphic novel portrayal of a middle school musical, adroitly capturing the drama both on and offstage.
Seventh-grader Callie Marin is over-the-moon to be on stage crew again this year for Eucalyptus Middle School’s production of Moon over Mississippi. Callie's just getting over popular baseball jock and eighth-grader Greg, who crushed her when he left Callie to return to his girlfriend, Bonnie, the stuck-up star of the play. Callie's healing heart is quickly captured by Justin and Jesse Mendocino, the two very cute twins who are working on the play with her. Equally determined to make the best sets possible with a shoestring budget and to get one of the Mendocino boys to notice her, the immensely likable Callie will find this to be an extremely drama-filled experience indeed. The palpably engaging and whip-smart characterization ensures that the charisma and camaraderie run high among those working on the production. When Greg snubs Callie in the halls and misses her reference to Guys and Dolls, one of her friends assuredly tells her, "Don't worry, Cal. We’re the cool kids….He's the dork." With the clear, stylish art, the strongly appealing characters and just the right pinch of drama, this book will undoubtedly make readers stand up and cheer.
Brava! (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-32698-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
SEEN & HEARD
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