A slight French import goes heavy on symbolism but light on story. A one-eyed wolf paces his cage day after day, ignoring everything outside of it, until he finds himself in a stare-off with a boy. In the way of magical realism, the two characters trade life stories, each by looking the other in the eye. Africa, the boy, sees Blue Wolf as he grows up in Alaska, living fairly idyllically with his brothers and sister until his capture and subsequent imprisonment in a series of zoos. Then Blue Wolf stares Africa in the eye, seeing the orphan grow up, first in Yellow Africa, then Gray Africa, then Green Africa, and finally the Other World, where they meet. Africa himself is a fey child, a storyteller who can make friends out of sworn enemies and whose mystical rapport with animals makes him a healer of sorts. It is his gaze that heals the wolf in the end, bringing together Alaska and all the Africas at once. While each character’s individual story is developed fairly well and the tone effectively infuses the story with a touch of the fantastic, ultimately there seems to be little substance to the whole, beyond a general sense of environmental we-are-all-one-ness. This is mystery writer Pennac’s (Passion Fruit, 2001, etc.) first book for children to be published in the US; while he shows a sure sense of mood and tone, the lack of actual narrative is likely to leave audiences wondering: what’s the point? (Fiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-7636-1896-9
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals.
Is dolphin-assisted therapy so beneficial to patients that it’s worth keeping a wild dolphin captive?
Twelve-year-old Lily has lived with her emotionally distant oncologist stepfather and a succession of nannies since her mother died in a car accident two years ago. Nannies leave because of the difficulty of caring for Adam, Lily’s severely autistic 4-year-old half brother. The newest, Suzanne, seems promising, but Lily is tired of feeling like a planet orbiting the sun Adam. When she meets blind Zoe, who will attend the same private middle school as Lily in the fall, Lily’s happy to have a friend. However, Zoe’s take on the plight of the captive dolphin, Nori, used in Adam’s therapy opens Lily’s eyes. She knows she must use her influence over her stepfather, who is consulting on Nori’s treatment for cancer (caused by an oil spill), to free the animal. Lily’s got several fine lines to walk, as she works to hold onto her new friend, convince her stepfather of the rightness of releasing Nori, and do what’s best for Adam. In her newest exploration of animal-human relationships, Rorby’s lonely, mature heroine faces tough but realistic situations. Siblings of children on the spectrum will identify with Lily. If the tale flirts with sentimentality and some of the characters are strident in their views, the whole never feels maudlin or didactic.
Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-67605-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
Light in tone and satisfyingly heavy on therapeutic wish fulfillment.
Chills and cheers ensue when a bullied middle schooler’s dark side rears up and exacts a fiendish round of revenge.
Led by hulking eighth grader Logan Haggis and a widowed mom from hell, the cast of DiTerlizzi’s latest is stocked with bullies of various sizes and ages. They all get what’s coming to them when sixth grader Timothy Quibble at last permits the Wump, the glowering monster he’s begun to glimpse in mirrors and reflections, to take control of his actions. Though the metaphorical essence of the premise is obvious from the outset, readers are as likely to be thrilled by the jagged, shadowy, truly terrifying Wump as by the sweet, sweet revenge it goes on to exact. Having inflicted pain but no permanent harm, Timothy, realizing he’s gone overboard, remorsefully takes back control. The author himself goes overboard in a portrayal of his narrator’s unloving, self-absorbed mother, who’s so savage that the dab of redemption he allows her at the end comes off as perfunctory at best. Still, there are supportive characters, too—including, as a nice surprise, a former tormentor who turns out to have similar struggles of his own and who has savvy life advice to offer. The students at the slyly named Jeffrey P. Kinney Middle School display racial diversity in the gallery of yearbook portraits. DiTerlizzi’s expertly crafted grayscale illustrations with pops of bright green are a highlight.
Light in tone and satisfyingly heavy on therapeutic wish fulfillment. (Supernatural. 10-13)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9798217004911
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2026
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