by David Unger ; illustrated by Carlos Vélez Aguilera ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 27, 2020
A bittersweet tale of life amid war.
As the sound and violence of war seep into Guatemala City during the 1950s, little Davico gradually sees his life change piece by piece.
Within the city stands La Casita, a renowned restaurant operated by Davico’s family that’s beloved by many. La Casita’s second floor also serves as the family’s living quarters, where Davico plays with his older brother, Felipe, and Mamá and Papá sometimes argue once the blackouts start. But before the blackouts come, a rain of yellow and blue papers falls from planes. The bright papers speak of “guns, armies and tanks” and “liberación and revolución.” Having fled from the “nonsense” in Germany, Papá struggles to keep the restaurant open as nights full of increasing gunshots and blackouts remind them of the oncoming rattles and bangs of war. Mamá, meanwhile, commits to keeping them whole. Then Papá and Mamá announce that they’re heading to the United States of America, leaving Davico and Felipe behind with stoic Uncle Aaron and strict Aunt Lonia until Papá and Mamá find new jobs and a new house. With a clear focus on Davico and his family—and drawing on his family’s own history—Unger conveys the claustrophobia and anxiety caused by the looming war in just a few pages while building Davico’s life in broad yet vivid strokes. It’s a tenuous balance, especially for a story aimed at such a young readership, but the book works, thanks in part to Aguilera’s illuminating illustrations, which open each chapter.
A bittersweet tale of life amid war. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-77306-384-3
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
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by Deborah Zemke ; illustrated by Deborah Zemke ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2019
A funny and timely primer for budding activists.
Problems are afoot at Emily Dickinson Elementary School, and it’s up to Bea Garcia to gather the troops and fight.
Bea Garcia and her best friend, Judith Einstein, sit every day under the 250-year-old oak tree in their schoolyard and imagine a face in its trunk. They name it “Emily” after their favorite American poet. Bea loves to draw both real and imagined pictures of their favorite place—the squirrels in the tree, the branches that reach for the sky, the view from the canopy even though she’s never climbed that high. Until the day a problem boy does climb that high, pelting the kids with acorns and then getting stuck. Bert causes such a scene that the school board declares Emily a nuisance and decides to chop it down. Bea and Einstein rally their friends with environmental facts, poetry, and artwork to try to convince the adults in their lives to change their minds. Bea must enlist Bert if she wants her plan to succeed. Can she use her imagination and Bert’s love of monsters to get him in line? In Bea’s fourth outing, Zemke gently encourages her protagonist to grow from an artist into an activist. Her energy and passion spill from both her narration and her frequent cartoons, which humorously extend the text. Spanish-speaking Bea’s Latinx, Einstein and Bert present white, and their classmates are diverse.
A funny and timely primer for budding activists. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 6-9)Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7352-2941-9
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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by Mo Willems ; illustrated by Mo Willems ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 4, 2014
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
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