For anyone who needs a reminder that they are perfect just as they are.
Growing up with a unicorn horn hasn’t been easy for 13-year-old Jewel Conrad; she just wants to be normal.
So when she finds a doctor in California who might be able to remove it, she jumps at the chance. There are only two problems: She hasn’t told her mother yet, and Carmen, the real live unicorn who follows her around, is getting distressed over Jewel’s deep unhappiness with her appearance. The novel’s textured representation includes an examination of how Jewel’s poverty affects her relationship with the world, including living with a single mom in low-income housing in Georgia; sharing a bedroom with her disabled grandmother; and her willingness, born out of desperation, to consider free surgery in exchange for being part of a doctor’s experimental trial. Healthy and fulfilling friendships are contrasted with more shallow, toxic ones as well as some bullying issues at school. The first-person perspective excels at showing Jewel’s internal thoughts and misconceptions. Her hobbies of drawing and reading graphic novels are woven naturally throughout the story as a whole, adding to the richness of characterization. The tension slowly builds to an adventurous climax and a heartwarming ending. Ultimately this is an ode to being different that does not gloss over the difficult aspects of standing out, especially in middle school. Main characters follow a White default.
For anyone who needs a reminder that they are perfect just as they are. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-79720-305-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
A tween gets in over his head in this introspective and nostalgic story.
Thirteen-year-old Joey Goodman spends every August in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at his grandparents’ hotel.
It’s 1975, and the city is soon to become a gambling resort as old hotels are replaced with casinos. Joey’s passion is playing Skee-Ball at the boardwalk arcades. There, he attracts the attention of shady Artie Bishop, known as the king of Steel Pier, and becomes involved in Bishop’s unspecified criminal activities. Suave Artie engages Joey in conversation about the boy’s favorite book, The Once and Future King, and Joey begins to regard him almost as a new King Arthur. Artie offers him a job chaperoning his daughter, Melanie, when she comes to visit. After Joey finishes his unpaid waiter’s shift at the hotel restaurant each day, he lies to his family, meets Melanie, and they explore the piers’ seedy amusements. Joey falls for 15-year-old Melanie, and she regards him fondly but is attracted to his older brother Reuben. The close-knit Jewish family of four bickering brothers, parents, uncle, and grandparents (especially wise grandpa Zeyde) is lovingly portrayed. The descriptions of Joey’s ponderings about God (he’s had his bar mitzvah but is undecided) and Artie’s business dealings may not hold young readers’ interest, and the immersive setting could appeal more to adults old enough to remember the time and place. All characters are presumed White.
A tween gets in over his head in this introspective and nostalgic story. (author’s note) (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72843-034-8
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
A blast for action fans, with potential for a long run.
Kicking off a new series with a bang (several bangs, in fact), Stroud sends two young fugitives with murky pasts fleeing murderous pursuers across a fractured future Britain.
It’s a land of wilderness and often radioactive ruins, with remnants of humanity in scattered walled towns huddling for protection against crazed, cannibalistic Tainted roaming the woods and ruthlessly culling anyone with even minor mutations under the direction of magisterial Faith Houses. Scarlett McCain, professional thief, initially thinks the uncommonly persistent, bowler-hatted gunmen are after her for her last bank robbery—but soon realizes their quarry is actually Albert Browne, a strangely secretive and ingenuous lad she impulsively pulled from a blown-up bus. What makes him so valuable? The answer, coming through hails of gunfire, massive explosions, narrow escapes galore, and encounters with terrifying monsters (not all of them nonhuman) on the way to a desperate climactic struggle in the immense concrete archipelago of London revolves around a secret prison where children with special mental abilities are kept, tortured, and trained for purposes unknown. If Scarlett turns out to be formidable in the crunch and Albert not so much, by the end the two have not only bonded, but proven to have complementary abilities that bid fair to serve them well in future exploits. The vivid setting, rapid-fire dialogue, and nonstop action will propel readers through this raucous, rousing rumble. The cast presents White.
A blast for action fans, with potential for a long run. (Science fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-43036-1
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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