An entertaining barrel ride past sheaves of middle-grade themes from bullying to racial identity.
Just getting to his seat in fifth grade becomes an ordeal for Sawyer after he develops the tail and back plates of a stegosaurus over the summer.
Not that it's a surprise, since his family is descended from one of a number of victims of a lab accident years ago that mixed human with dinosaur DNA. But even with tennis balls covering the spikes so he doesn't inadvertently impale anyone, accidents keep happening. Not to mention relentless bullying. In a series debut with more twists than a strand of DNA, Oakes not only presents her frustrated dino-lad with a physical challenge, but a moral one too: Though it seems that the new principal is ruthlessly culling Sawyer's multiple bullies to enforce a zero-tolerance policy, in fact she's collecting them to sell on the interplanetary pet market. Should he even try to rescue them? (To his credit, Sawyer doesn't hesitate to do the right thing.) Ultimately, and with real help from a pair of allies that includes an odd new classmate who's not entirely human either, he stages a dramatic rescue, unmasks (literally) the kidnapper and comes to terms with his differences. Though practically mirroring Bob Balaban’s Boy or Beast (illustrated by Andy Rash, 2012) in premise and even parts of the plot, it’s nevertheless good fun.
An entertaining barrel ride past sheaves of middle-grade themes from bullying to racial identity. (Science fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4926-0537-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A work of heavy, realistic fiction told with oddball humor, honesty, and heart.
When Korean-American Ok Lee loses his father in a construction accident, he and his mom must fend for themselves financially while quietly grieving.
Middle schooler Ok watches as his mother takes on multiple jobs with long hours trying to make ends meet. Determined to help, he sets his sights on his school’s talent show. The winner takes home $100 in cash, enough to pay the utilities before they get cut off. His search to find a bankable talent is complicated by unwanted attention from bully Asa, who’s African-American, and blackmail at the hands of a strange classmate named Mickey, who’s white. To make matters worse, his mother starts dating Deacon Koh, “the lonely widower” of the First Korean Full Gospel Church, who seems to have dubious motives and “tries too hard.” Narrator Ok navigates this full plot with quirky humor that borders on dark at times. His feelings and actions dealing with his grief are authentic. Most of the characters take a surprising turn, in one way or another helping Ok despite initial, somewhat stereotypical introductions and abundant teasing with racial jokes. Although most of the characters go through a transformation, Ok’s father in comparison is not as fleshed-out, and Asa’s African-American Vernacular English occasionally feels repetitive and forced.
A work of heavy, realistic fiction told with oddball humor, honesty, and heart. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-1929-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An entertaining continuation to a magical series that celebrates diversity with a magical twist.
With Rumpelstiltskin and his band of villains still on the loose, the students and staff of Fairy Tale Reform School are on high alert as they prepare for the next attack.
Classes are devoted to teaching battle techniques and conjuring new weapons, which narrator Gilly finds preferable to learning history or manners. But Maxine, her ogress friend, has had it with all the doom and gloom. The last straw is when the agenda at the Royal Lady-in-Waiting meeting is changed from “How to Plan the Perfect Fairy Garden Party” to designing flying rocks and creating flower darts. While on a class field trip to the village to investigate their future careers, Maxine finds a magic lamp housing a genie named Darlene. Her wish that everyone be happy works a little too well. War preparations are put on hold as the school fills with flowers, laughter, and plans for a musical production. But when Gilly is tapped to fill in for the local chief of the dwarf police, things really take a turn for the worse. The students, including fairies, ogres, and the part-human/part-beast offspring of Beauty and the ex-Beast, focus on friendship and supporting one another in spite of their differences. Humility, forgiveness, and loyalty are also highly regarded in the FTRS community. Human Gilly is white, but there is racial as well as species diversity at FTRS.
An entertaining continuation to a magical series that celebrates diversity with a magical twist. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-5167-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Nov. 20, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2018
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