Happily, the ending, in which the girls are presented with the hull of a small sailboat they’ll need to rig and equip in...
There is more to this seemingly quiet account of a young girl’s seaside summer than meets the eye, including some fairly adventurous hijinks and occasional meaningful issues with which to cope.
Episodic adventures begin as Becca and her friend Jane attempt to sail out of the harbor by themselves for the first time; over the course of the season the girls try to raise money for a new boat by performing The Tempest, chafe at doing Gran’s chores, wonder about the romance between the island plumber and Aunt Fifi, and eventually decide to donate the play proceeds to charity. Interactions among the various cousins and friends are realistically done, although Becca is more developed as a character than the others; Jane remains a sidekick, the teenager cousin is one-notedly surly, and Gran is stereotypically curmudgeonly. The woodsy British Columbia setting provides an evocative backdrop for this sequel to Becca at Sea (2007), set across winter, spring, and summer. The era isn’t specified but seems some years bygone; no one has a cellphone, and activities are wholesomely summery: putting on the play, going to the beach, riding bikes, and exploring the woods.
Happily, the ending, in which the girls are presented with the hull of a small sailboat they’ll need to rig and equip in order to use, seems to signal more about Becca to come; perhaps in autumn next time. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-55498-957-7
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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