Likable Nixie creates a terrific recipe for winning back old friends and making lots of new ones.
Nixie is facing a crisis: “How could you be best friends with more than one person?”
Now that the third-grader’s stay-at-home mother has gotten a job, Nixie has to attend after-school cooking camp. That means her very best friend, Grace, who’s been staying with Nixie in the afternoons because the after-school program costs too much, will now be staying with Elyse. Naturally, Grace enjoys spending time with Elyse—and Elyse’s new kitten—cementing a new friendship. It’s not that cooking camp isn’t fun. Nixie’s team, consisting of smart, fact-spewing Nolan, very precise Vera, and humorously energetic Boogie Bass, makes sure of that. But it’s not the same any more, having to reluctantly share Grace with Elyse, and Nixie’s determined to find a way to fix things. Unfortunately, her misguided efforts only backfire, and finally Nixie, feeling betrayed, does the unthinkable and screams a horrible thing at Grace. It won’t be easy to win back her friend. Nixie and her classmates are drawn with enough individuality to distinguish them as they deal with the universal problems of their age group supported by friendly peers and (mostly) helpful adults. Nixie and Boogie present white, and Nolan is Indian-American; illustrations suggest that Vera, Grace, and Elyse are all children of color.
Likable Nixie creates a terrific recipe for winning back old friends and making lots of new ones. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4093-1
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The story feels a bit contrived, but Ada will be a welcome addition to the small circle of science-loving girls in the...
Using science and technology, third-grader Ada Lace kicks off her new series by solving a mystery even with her leg in a cast.
Temporarily housebound after a badly executed bungee jump, Ada uses binoculars to document the ecosystem of her new neighborhood in San Francisco. She records her observations in a field journal, a project that intrigues new friend Nina, who lives nearby. When they see that Ms. Reed’s dog, Marguerite, is missing, they leap to the conclusion that it has been stolen. Nina does the legwork and Ada provides the technology for their search for the dognapper. Story-crafting takes a back seat to scene-setting in this series kickoff that introduces the major players. As part of the series formula, science topics and gadgetry are integrated into the stories and further explained in a “Behind the Science” afterword. This installment incorporates drones, a wireless camera, gecko gloves, and the Turing test as well as the concept of an ecosystem. There are no ethnic indicators in the text, but the illustrations reveal that Ada, her family, and bratty neighbor Milton are white; Nina appears to be Southeast Asian; and Mr. Peebles, an inventor who lives nearby, is black.
The story feels a bit contrived, but Ada will be a welcome addition to the small circle of science-loving girls in the chapter-book world. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8599-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
Plenty of baseball action, but the paint-by-numbers plot is just a vehicle for equally standard-issue advice. .
For his eponymous imprint, the New York Yankees star leads off with a self-referential tale of Little League triumphs.
In the first of a projected 10 episodes based on the same number of “Life Lessons” espoused by the lead author’s Turn 2 Foundation, third-grader Derek turns in an essay announcing that his dream is to play shortstop for the New York Yankees (No. 1 on the Turn 2 list: “Set your goals high”). His parents take him seriously enough not only to present him with a “contract” that promises rewards for behaviors like working hard and avoiding alcohol and drugs, but also to put a flea in the ear of his teacher after she gives him a B-minus on the essay for being unrealistic. Derek then goes on to pull up his math grade. He also proceeds to pull off brilliant plays for his new Little League team despite finding himself stuck at second base while the coach’s son makes multiple bad decisions at shortstop and, worse, publicly puts down other team members. Jeter serves as his own best example of the chosen theme’s theoretical validity, but as he never acknowledges that making the majors (in any sport) requires uncommon physical talent as well as ambition and determination, this values-driven pitch is well out of the strike zone.
Plenty of baseball action, but the paint-by-numbers plot is just a vehicle for equally standard-issue advice. . (foundation ad and curriculum guide, not seen) (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4814-2312-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Jeter/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
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