Retro fun for persistent readers.
The eponymous rising fifth grader is a Canadian girl who is determined to earn enough points over the summer to be a contestant for Junior Journalist at Cantilever’s newspaper, the Town Crier.
Kiddo’s first stumbling block is the fact that her poor spelling almost makes her ineligible, until her mother intervenes—with a clever use of logic—to raise Kiddo’s final grades on her report card. The ignorance of learning disabilities combines with other clues to let readers familiar with Canadian history and culture know the setting is probably the 1970s. It is unfortunate for young U.S. readers that there is no date or overt historical clue early on; they may immediately dismiss Kiddo’s language and behavior as oddly corny and immature instead of as representative of kids in a different era. Some preteen readers will either giggle nervously or stop reading at the early description of Kiddo’s older sister’s trainer-bra antics. Kiddo narrates the story with gusto, and readers who stay with it will enjoy the neighborhood camaraderie, small-town adventures, character types, and even illustrations that emulate Beverly Cleary’s chapter books. Kiddo’s presumed-white, affectionate, working-class family has friends with both East Asian and South Asian names. An abundance of humor in all its forms moves the plot and its many subplots to satisfying conclusions.
Retro fun for persistent readers. (Historical fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-896580-66-1
Page Count: 148
Publisher: Tradewind Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2019
Move over Ramona Quimby, Portland has another neighbor you have to meet!
Ryan Hart is navigating the fourth grade and all its challenges with determination.
Her mom named her Ryan because it means “king,” and she wanted Ryan to feel powerful every time she heard her name; Ryan knows it means she is a leader. So when changes occur or disaster strikes, budding chef Ryan does her best to find the positive and “make sunshine.” When her dad is laid off from the post office, the family must make adjustments that include moving into a smaller house, selling their car, and changing how they shop for groceries. But Ryan gets to stay at Vernon Elementary, and her mom still finds a way to get her the ingredients she needs to practice new recipes. Her older brother, Ray, can be bossy, but he finds little ways to support her, especially when she is down—as does the whole family. Each episodic chapter confronts Ryan with a situation; intermittently funny, frustrating, and touching, they should be familiar and accessible to readers, as when Ryan fumbles her Easter speech despite careful practice. Ryan, her family, and friends are Black, and Watson continues to bring visibility to both Portland, Oregon, generally and its Black community specifically, making another wonderful contribution that allows Black readers to see themselves and all readers to find a character they can love.
Move over Ramona Quimby, Portland has another neighbor you have to meet! (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: April 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0056-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
The journey is even gently funny—Omakayas’s brother spends much of the year with a porcupine on his head. Charming and...
This third entry in the Birchbark House series takes Omakayas and her family west from their home on the Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker, away from land the U.S. government has claimed.
Difficulties abound; the unknown landscape is fraught with danger, and they are nearing hostile Bwaanag territory. Omakayas’s family is not only close, but growing: The travelers adopt two young chimookoman (white) orphans along the way. When treachery leaves them starving and alone in a northern Minnesota winter, it will take all of their abilities and love to survive. The heartwarming account of Omakayas’s year of travel explores her changing family relationships and culminates in her first moon, the onset of puberty. It would be understandable if this darkest-yet entry in Erdrich’s response to the Little House books were touched by bitterness, yet this gladdening story details Omakayas’s coming-of-age with appealing optimism.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-06-029787-9
Page Count: 208
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2008
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