An absolutely wonderful debut with the potential to become a YA classic.
In a modern take on both Kafka and T.H. White, a young girl learns about life as a human by spending time in her pet ferret’s world.
At 14, Fiona Forrest has already had her share of life’s disappointments. Her living situation is comfortable enough; her 3-year-old brother Rickie is largely bearable and her father, though emotionally bottled, is a fairly successful house builder in the Ontario area. But at the start of Haskin’s confident, hugely engaging young adult novel, Fiona’s mother is “a painful and hurtful non-event,” having left home and stayed incommunicado. Fiona’s father resignedly says Mom is going through a personal crisis and needs time away, but the whole thing is so raw and confusing to Fiona that there are many times when she wishes she could join her alert, intelligent ferret Bandit in the comparative peace and stability of his cage. However, when the story obliges and Fiona suddenly finds herself ferret-sized and able to talk with Bandit, things turn out to be not so idyllic. Bandit—a positively hilarious creation, by turns timorous and pompous with lessons about “the way of the ferret,” a kind of furry Falstaff—is indulgent but unimaginative (although one of his strongest maxims, “Ferrets never surrender,” is something Fiona takes to heart) and the two of them have a whole book’s worth of adventures together, from perilous encounters with a great horned owl and a rat to an enlightening chance meeting with a skunk (“We are sorely misunderstood,” he says). Along the way, Fiona and Bandit become closer friends than either ever expected and Fiona rethinks all of the problems in her much missed human life. Haskin’s book is full of fine writing, fun dialogue (Fiona has a way with deadpan quips) and a multilayered, believable and thoroughly heartwarming ending.
An absolutely wonderful debut with the potential to become a YA classic.Pub Date: July 26, 2011
ISBN: 978-0986919909
Page Count: 180
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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