Ably demonstrates finding thoughtful solutions for common problems.
In Cole’s seventh installment of a middle-grade series, fifth graders find their math team and their friendships put to the test.
Soccer star Stephanie Lewis leads her school team to victory in the town of Maynard. They score a spot in the state tournament, but unfortunately, it’s the same weekend as the district math competition. She delivers the sad news to her team, the Math Kids. As Stephanie predicts, Justin Grant responds in anger and practically demands she leave the group if she’s too busy for the math competition. Catherine Duchesne storms off with Stephanie, while Justin’s only remaining teammate, Jordan Waters, helplessly watches. The following days are filled with “icy silence” among the four friends as some search for a way to repair the rift. Then there’s an unexpected snag. Justin’s dad has a new job lined up elsewhere, and the family will likely move by the end of the school year. Even if all four of the Math Kids manage somehow to reunite and compete, it may be for the very last time. Cole’s educational story brims with math problems that characters solve (readers can also find the solutions). The bright, young cast is likable despite Stephanie and Justin’s squabble (both sides have reason to be hurt). And it’s a delight when Catherine and Jordan work hard to fix real-world problems. While this installment is less exciting than others (which involve burglary, kidnapping, etc.), it shows how everyday life can sometimes hit the hardest. O’Toole’s black-and-white artwork leaves lasting impressions, whether filled with detail (Justin’s packed but organized room) or deceptively simple (the Math Kids’ hands raised in unison). A helpful appendix clarifies some of the more complex mathematics, like the order of operations.
Ably demonstrates finding thoughtful solutions for common problems.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-988761-73-2
Page Count: 186
Publisher: Common Deer Press
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this...
Sentenced to a brutal juvenile detention camp for a crime he didn't commit, a wimpy teenager turns four generations of bad family luck around in this sunburnt tale of courage, obsession, and buried treasure from Sachar (Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, 1995, etc.).
Driven mad by the murder of her black beau, a schoolteacher turns on the once-friendly, verdant town of Green Lake, Texas, becomes feared bandit Kissin' Kate Barlow, and dies, laughing, without revealing where she buried her stash. A century of rainless years later, lake and town are memories—but, with the involuntary help of gangs of juvenile offenders, the last descendant of the last residents is still digging. Enter Stanley Yelnats IV, great-grandson of one of Kissin' Kate's victims and the latest to fall to the family curse of being in the wrong place at the wrong time; under the direction of The Warden, a woman with rattlesnake venom polish on her long nails, Stanley and each of his fellow inmates dig a hole a day in the rock-hard lake bed. Weeks of punishing labor later, Stanley digs up a clue, but is canny enough to conceal the information of which hole it came from. Through flashbacks, Sachar weaves a complex net of hidden relationships and well-timed revelations as he puts his slightly larger-than-life characters under a sun so punishing that readers will be reaching for water bottles.
Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this rugged, engrossing adventure. (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 978-0-374-33265-5
Page Count: 233
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
