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THE INFINITY YEAR OF AVALON JAMES

Name: THE INFINITY YEAR OF AVALON JAMES
Author: Dana Middleton
ISBN: 978-1-250-08569-6

by Dana Middleton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 11, 2016

A fine, tenderly nuanced tale of the remarkable power of friendship.

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It’s Avalon’s 11th year—her Infinity Year—the brief period when she and her very best friend, Atticus, will discover and be able to use their shared magic power.

Or that’s what Atticus’ grandfather has told them, and the two credulous children believe him. It will be a year of excruciating challenges for Avalon (who, like Atticus, is depicted as a dark-haired white figure on the cover). Her father is in prison, and everyone in her small school is aware of her shame. She’s relentlessly bullied by classmate Elena and her pair of minions. Her beloved cat goes missing. A week later, Atticus dreams of where the cat may be trapped. When the dream turns out to be unfathomably correct, they’re both sure Atticus has acquired his magic. One of the few highlights of Avalon’s year is when she shares spelling-bee honors with a seventh grader and is bound for the regionals. Then she unwittingly reveals Atticus’ painful secret—that he wets the bed—and the story is shared schoolwide. Atticus abandons her; without his gentle, insightful support, Avalon retaliates against Elena with devastating consequences. All these painfully acquired life lessons are related in Avalon’s genial, evocative voice, convincingly illuminating many of the issues of a year that can offer infinite possibilities, even if the magic is imagined.

A fine, tenderly nuanced tale of the remarkable power of friendship. (Fiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-250-08569-6

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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CLUES TO THE UNIVERSE

by Christina Li ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 12, 2021

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.

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An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.

Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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NUMBER THE STARS

by Lois Lowry ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1989

A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit...

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The author of the Anastasia books as well as more serious fiction (Rabble Starkey, 1987) offers her first historical fiction—a story about the escape of the Jews from Denmark in 1943.

Five years younger than Lisa in Carol Matas' Lisa's War (1989), Annemarie Johansen has, at 10, known three years of Nazi occupation. Though ever cautious and fearful of the ubiquitous soldiers, she is largely unaware of the extent of the danger around her; the Resistance kept even its participants safer by telling them as little as possible, and Annemarie has never been told that her older sister Lise died in its service. When the Germans plan to round up the Jews, the Johansens take in Annemarie's friend, Ellen Rosen, and pretend she is their daughter; later, they travel to Uncle Hendrik's house on the coast, where the Rosens and other Jews are transported by fishing boat to Sweden. Apart from Lise's offstage death, there is little violence here; like Annemarie, the reader is protected from the full implications of events—but will be caught up in the suspense and menace of several encounters with soldiers and in Annemarie's courageous run as courier on the night of the escape. The book concludes with the Jews' return, after the war, to homes well kept for them by their neighbors.

A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit of riding alone in Copenhagen, but for their Jews. (Historical fiction. 9-12)