A story of fierce friendship, bravery, loyalty, and finding—or making—a place to belong.
Ravani Foster and the whole town of Slaughterville are changed by the arrival of seven unusual children.
Skinny, lonely Ravani is the only one who sees the children arrive and move into the house across the street, and he soon finds a comrade in tough, golden-haired Virginia. Despite the local newspaper owner’s assertion that Slaughterville is not the kind of town where exciting things happen, Ravani’s life changes dramatically as Virginia and her chosen family of parentless kids calling themselves the Ragabonds let him in on their secret: They are on the run. When vicious bully Donnie learns that the Ragabonds are being pursued, he blackmails Ravani, who is desperate to protect them and equally desperate for Virginia, his first friend, to stay. She introduces him to the quietly revolutionary idea that things don’t have to be the way they’ve always been. The omniscient narrative voice is a strong presence throughout, drawing readers’ attention to themes including choices that make a difference, connections between people (“Sometimes, when two souls find each other in the darkness, the darkness goes away”), deciding who you want to be and not letting others define you, and the importance of home and family. Brief chapters from the perspective of the man hunting the Ragabonds ratchet up the suspense, culminating in an exciting sequence of events followed by a heartwarming ending. All main characters are coded White.
A story of fierce friendship, bravery, loyalty, and finding—or making—a place to belong. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-19672-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Uplifting.
Eleni Klarstein, feeling like a friendship failure after Sylvie Bank ditches her, launches a Friendship Fact-Finding Mission to set things right.
Leni is looking forward to starting sixth grade with bestie Sylvie by her side, but even before school starts, Sylvie distances herself. Leni is heartbroken—she lost her camp friend over the summer, too. When she thinks about it, other friendships in the past have also lapsed. In this heartening tale, Leni decides to take a long look at friendship by conducting a dedicated investigation. Through her first-person narration, readers feel up close and personal with all Leni’s emotions: the pain, the humor, and the shock. As she reconnects with friends past, Leni discovers much about others and how they experienced their relationships with her, and she bravely faces some hard truths about herself. In the process, Leni brings closure to some relationships and develops new ties. It’s the rare individual who can take such an awkward, glorious deep dive, and readers will be grateful to go through everything with Leni as their guide. Ultimately, she learns that sometimes the right thing is accepting that relationships grow and change. In case readers need reminding of this, there’s a handy list of “Top Ten Takeaways” for being a good friend at the end. Leni is White and Jewish; there is some diversity in the well-rounded cast of secondary characters.
Uplifting. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-306267-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
A tale of intergenerational bonding that may resonate with adult readers but will leave youngsters cold.
In the Newbery-winning author’s latest, a girl grapples with a beloved elder’s dementia.
Eleven-year-old Sophia (who goes by Sophie) Henry Winslow’s best friend is Sophie Gershowitz, her 88-year-old neighbor. Sophie Gershowitz’s adult son is concerned with her cognitive decline and thinks it may be time for her to move to an assisted living facility. The younger Sophie decides to prepare her friend for the cognitive tests so she’ll pass them and be able to stay. When Sophie Gershowitz struggles to recall three words—tree, table, book—Sophie Winslow invites her to recall related childhood stories in the hopes that it will help. Sophie Gershowitz shares slice-of-life tales from her girlhood in Poland before revealing how everything changed when World War II began. Sophie Winslow reflects: “I had never really got it, never understood history, how things fit together, because I needed someone to tell me the stories…of how things are lost, and what that means and how it hurts.” While the explanation of historical events is age-appropriate and at times compelling, the book feels more geared toward an adult sensibility than a child’s. The pacing is slow, and young Sophie’s storyline seems like an overly padded, self-conscious framing device. The protagonist is a quirk-filled bundle of idiosyncrasies; Lowry aims for precocious but sometimes stumbles into pretentious and judgmental, particularly with young Sophie’s attitudes toward her friend Ralphie’s love of junk food. Physical descriptions of characters are minimal.
A tale of intergenerational bonding that may resonate with adult readers but will leave youngsters cold. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9780063299504
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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