Skuy adeptly combines exhilarating sports with a thoughtfully engrossing storyline that will inspire readers
Thirteen-year-old soccer player and cancer survivor Cody is determined to get back on the field.
Having completed treatment, Cody longs to regain his equilibrium, both at home and on the soccer field. While an opportunity to try out for the Lions—a team just moving up to the division he played in before he got sick—seems ideal, Cody encounters several obstacles. His goal to play soccer is challenged by his mother’s apprehensions, his own qualms about his post-recovery soccer abilities and several relentless bullies on his new team. Skuy subtly explores the emotional aspects of Cody’s recovery, portraying family dynamics in the wake of a child’s critical illness and addressing Cody’s struggles to establish new friendships after his illness. He also presents the issue of domineering sports parents, whose enthusiasm for their child’s success sometimes eclipses good sportsmanship. The tension builds as several star players clash with Cody and his fellow substitutes on the team. Despite the taunts of the bullies, Cody quietly perseveres with the support of several new allies. A key soccer tournament gives Cody and his friends the chance to prove themselves. Invigorating, detailed game descriptions capture the kinetic energy of soccer while illuminating the skills and strategies essential to the sport.
Skuy adeptly combines exhilarating sports with a thoughtfully engrossing storyline that will inspire readers . (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4594-0512-7
Page Count: 216
Publisher: James Lorimer
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2014
Despite playing into some stereotypes, this will hit a sweet spot for tweens.
Friendship is tested when three girls start middle school and are together at the same school for the first time.
Fonda, Drew, and Ruthie have been neighbors and best friends since they were little. Fonda, excited to be attending school without being overshadowed by an older sister, can’t wait to have a group she can depend on in the face of an intimidating popular girl clique. Drew, who was at a private school, is looking forward to not having to wear a uniform and to going to the same school as Will, a cute boy she met over the summer. Ruthie, who is coming from an alternative school with a long list of rules, has high expectations for public school. However, Fonda’s plans are immediately disrupted when Ruthie is put in the tiny gifted and talented program, whose students are kept separate from everyone else. The writing is funny and will land well with a tween audience, as will the theme of shifting friendship. Fonda is forced to confront her controlling and manipulative ways as she tries to make her friends conform to her plan for popularity. Her behavior feeds into girl-drama clichés, but the portrayal of the other girls, who face the repercussions of succumbing to peer pressure and sacrificing what they truly want, is more well rounded. All main characters are cued as White.
Despite playing into some stereotypes, this will hit a sweet spot for tweens. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-984814-98-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Nov. 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Frequent allusions to The Wizard of Oz—with Tin Man the robot, Oz the teacher and themes of brains, heart and courage—add to...
The last thing troublemaker and mediocre student Donovan Curtis ever expected was a transfer from Hardcastle Middle School to the prestigious Academy for Scholastic Distinction.
When he whacks a statue of Atlas on the butt, and Atlas’ globe falls off his shoulders, rolls down the hill, and crashes through the glass doors of the gym, Donovan expects to be in big-time trouble. Instead, he receives a letter informing him that he’s been selected to attend ASD. He does attend but soon feels like “some exotic space alien who crash-landed in the gifted program.” Donovan’s journey through his strange new world is told through multiple points of view, allowing his teachers and gifted classmates to offer thoughts on this clearly ungifted boy in their midst. When the robotics class creates a robot named Tin Man, though, it’s Donovan’s skill with the joystick, developed by hours of playing video games, that gives the team hope of winning the upcoming competition. And as he and his new friends try to find some common ground, Donovan becomes the heart and soul of the school, if not the brains.
Frequent allusions to The Wizard of Oz—with Tin Man the robot, Oz the teacher and themes of brains, heart and courage—add to the charm of this tale of a boy finding his home. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-174266-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2012
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