A perfect storm of suspense and fine character building.
Anticipation, fear, excitement, and dread coalesce as a girl’s 13th birthday collides with a terrible force of nature: Hurricane Katrina.
Teresa Arielle Boone is a high-spirited girl living in the 9th Ward of sultry New Orleans. In this summer of 2005, Reesie can’t wait to celebrate her upcoming birthday. However, upon overhearing tourists discuss a hurricane that has devastated parts of Florida, disbelief and fear bubble up inside Reesie. Now the storm is heading for New Orleans. When Reesie's parents argue over whether or not to leave town to avoid the storm, she feels shaken, yet she’s still determined to prepare for her party. Readers will feel the twinned pulls of elation and apprehension. The anticipation is palpable. So is the desperate, futile hope that everything will be all right. When the storm finally hits, Lewis slams readers and Reesie alike with an impact that reverberates long after the skies have cleared. Reesie has inherited her Ma Maw’s style as well as her sewing machine. She’s a girl with dreams and ambition who can’t imagine being derailed by anything, and readers will understand her aching vulnerability as she confronts a force even she can’t control. Patrick builds to the climax beautifully and delivers a character who puts readers in the moment.
A perfect storm of suspense and fine character building. (Historical fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8050-4716-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
Certain to steal hearts.
In this follow-up to 2020’s The One and Only Bob, Ruby the elephant is still living at Wildworld Zoological Park and Sanctuary.
She’s apprehensive about her Tuskday, a rite of passage for young elephants when she’ll give a speech in front of the rest of the herd. Luckily, she can confide in her Uncle Ivan, who is next door in Gorilla World, and Uncle Bob, the dog who lives nearby with human friend Julia. Ruby was born in an unspecified part of Africa, later ending up on display in the mall, where she met Ivan, Bob, and Julia. The unexpected arrival of someone from Ruby’s past life on the savanna revives memories both warmly nostalgic and deeply traumatic. An elephant glossary and Castelao’s charming, illustrated guide to elephant body language help immerse readers in Ruby’s world. Goofy, playful, and mischievous Ruby is fully dimensional, as she has shown her bravery during the many hardships of her young life. Applegate deftly tempers themes of grief and loss with compassion and humor as Ruby finds her place in the herd. The author’s note touches on climate change, the illegal ivory trade, and conservation efforts, but the highly emotive framing of the story through the memories of a bewildered baby elephant emphasizes the impact of lines such as “ ‘in Africa,’ I say softly, ‘there were bad people,’ ” without offering readers a nuanced understanding of the broader context that drives poaching.
Certain to steal hearts. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780063080089
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey.
Separated from his pack, Swift, a young wolf, embarks on a perilous search for a new home.
Swift’s mother impresses on him early that his “pack belongs to the mountains and the mountains belong to the pack.” His father teaches him to hunt elk, avoid skunks and porcupines, revere the life that gives them life, and “carry on” when their pack is devastated in an attack by enemy wolves. Alone and grieving, Swift reluctantly leaves his mountain home. Crossing into unfamiliar territory, he’s injured and nearly dies, but the need to run, hunt, and live drives him on. Following a routine of “walk-trot-eat-rest,” Swift traverses prairies, canyons, and deserts, encountering men with rifles, hunger, thirst, highways, wild horses, a cougar, and a forest fire. Never imagining the “world could be so big or that I could be so alone in it,” Swift renames himself Wander as he reaches new mountains and finds a new home. Rife with details of the myriad scents, sounds, tastes, touches, and sights in Swift/Wander’s primal existence, the immediacy of his intimate, first-person, present-tense narration proves deeply moving, especially his longing for companionship. Realistic black-and-white illustrations trace key events in this unique survival story, and extensive backmatter fills in further factual information about wolves and their habitat.
A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey. (additional resources, map) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-289593-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
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