A dark and depressing look at extinction that leaves no hope for the future.
In a somber manner that is a tonal shift for Calì, he explores the nightmare that is extinction.
“In the forest with no name, between the river of wishes and the cascade of time, there’s an understory of sweet and scary dreams.” Riding on the back of his faithful companion, Dingo, Dr. Wallaby hunts down his Australian animal patients’ nightmares. But a Tasmanian tiger’s “hollow” dreams perplex Dr. Wallaby until he finally realizes that the tiger is “dreamless,” which means that it is extinct. Palmarucci’s illustrations, which have the stiff formality and finely detailed lines of early scientific sketches of flora and fauna, echo the old-fashioned language and style of the text, translated from Italian. A culturally inaccurate depiction of a “thorny” nightmare—an Aboriginal person wearing a necklace of skulls and wielding a knife—strikes a disturbing note. Four vignettes picture several animals’ own nightmares, sketched horrors around a clearly frightened creature (readers may feel the same after viewing them—Where the Wild Things Are this ain’t). The tiger is shown being rowed to the Island of Shadows by a figure all in white. The yellow rocks and almost-black foliage on the bleak island make the grayed-out inhabitants—“the souls of animals, which are no more”—stand out. Calì’s final word—“From here, there is no return”—leaves readers on a distinct down note, as if The Lorax’s Once-ler had no seed to pass on.
A dark and depressing look at extinction that leaves no hope for the future. (labeled images of critically endangered species, works cited and inspirations) (Picture book. 10-14)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-56846-388-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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
© 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.
