Next book

CASSI AND THE HOUSE OF MEMORIES

A dazzling, heartfelt journey through fading memories.

The twilight years of a life well lived inspire new appreciation in this visually and emotionally striking graphic novel.

Red-haired, pigtailed Cassi shares everything with Grandpa Charlie, but sometimes his brain is a little foggy. He forgets details, fails to recognize his only grandchild, and wanders away without warning. Grandma explains his condition using an inventive metaphor of cascading dominoes. In his lucid moments, Grandpa shares his love of music, but one day, Cassi follows him through the trees in the backyard into a vast, surreal, mazelike building containing his memories. There she meets a young Charlie and discovers his rich musical history. Stuart portrays memories as an endless gallery of framed, hanging pictures; Cassi enters these portals into Grandpa’s past. The spacious, labyrinthine chambers of the mind play visual second fiddle to vivid scenes of light-skinned, brown-haired Charlie’s life among artists and performers. Cassi interacts with and affects each memory before it deteriorates, rewriting history or accepting an inevitable defeat. The brilliant, richly colored art and subtle complexities of how Cassi and readers come to know Grandpa elevate the story, such as when advice that an older Grandpa offers Cassi makes sense only when considered within the full context of his life and formative childhood experiences. The wondrous elements of fabulism and the affection between grandfather and granddaughter combine to form something greater than the sum of their parts.

A dazzling, heartfelt journey through fading memories. (sketches and concept art, author’s note) (Graphic fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2025

ISBN: 9780593351123

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024

Next book

WRECKING BALL

From the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series , Vol. 14

Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.

The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.

When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.

Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)

Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Amulet/Abrams

Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019

Next book

LET IT GLOW

A warm bundle of holiday cheer.

In a funny, feel-good tale, 12-year-old twins separated at birth meet by chance and try to pull off a family switch during the December holidays.

The girls, who are cued white, agree that it would be a delicious prank, but each has a personal motive, too: Aviva Davis, who was adopted by a culturally Jewish mom and a Black dad who was raised Christian, wonders what it’s like to celebrate Christmas. Budding author Holly Martin, who was adopted by a white-presenting single mom, sees a golden opportunity to gather experiences for a school writing assignment about facing her fears. In a plot as sweet as a Hanukkah jelly doughnut and twisty as a Christmas cinnamon roll, the pair just manages to bail one another out of a string of sticky situations—both hilarious and otherwise. They both learn something of the customs and meaning of the two holidays while working through tears and laughter—not to mention conflicts sparked by their very different personalities. Everything culminates in a holiday performance at a local senior center that will have readers rising up to cheer them on. Though their history remains tantalizingly mysterious, for the protagonists, who narrate alternating chapters, it’s mission accomplished and more: Aviva emerges feeling more secure in her Jewish identity, while anxious Holly discovers unexpected depths of courage.

A warm bundle of holiday cheer. (song lyrics) (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024

ISBN: 9781250360670

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024

Close Quickview