Plenty of baseball action, but the paint-by-numbers plot is just a vehicle for equally standard-issue advice. .
For his eponymous imprint, the New York Yankees star leads off with a self-referential tale of Little League triumphs.
In the first of a projected 10 episodes based on the same number of “Life Lessons” espoused by the lead author’s Turn 2 Foundation, third-grader Derek turns in an essay announcing that his dream is to play shortstop for the New York Yankees (No. 1 on the Turn 2 list: “Set your goals high”). His parents take him seriously enough not only to present him with a “contract” that promises rewards for behaviors like working hard and avoiding alcohol and drugs, but also to put a flea in the ear of his teacher after she gives him a B-minus on the essay for being unrealistic. Derek then goes on to pull up his math grade. He also proceeds to pull off brilliant plays for his new Little League team despite finding himself stuck at second base while the coach’s son makes multiple bad decisions at shortstop and, worse, publicly puts down other team members. Jeter serves as his own best example of the chosen theme’s theoretical validity, but as he never acknowledges that making the majors (in any sport) requires uncommon physical talent as well as ambition and determination, this values-driven pitch is well out of the strike zone.
Plenty of baseball action, but the paint-by-numbers plot is just a vehicle for equally standard-issue advice. . (foundation ad and curriculum guide, not seen) (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4814-2312-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Jeter/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
If ever a new series deserved to go viral, this one does. (Graphic novel. 7-9)
The hilarious misadventures of a hapless young everylad who happens to be an amoeba.
Countering the (perceived, at least) girliness of their Babymouse series, the talented Holms turn to the microbial world for new graphic material. Like his revered comics hero, Super Amoeba, blobby Squish is determined to “do what’s right.” This turns out to be relatively easy when it’s his mooching buddy Pod suckering him into switching lunches or his relentlessly cheery classmate Peggy the paramecium (her every utterance trailed by a line of exclamation points!!!!!) begging him to come over after school to meet her new slime mold Fluffy. It's a lot harder when brutish bully Lynwood callously envelops and begins to digest the seemingly doomed Peggy for a snack. The siblings draw it Babymouse-style in thick lined cartoon panels with garish green highlights and dialogue balloons. Plenty of helpful arrows point out significant anatomical details (“Pseudopods”) or offer snarky side comments. The episode zips along to a climactic ugly (but just) surprise for Lynwood, then closes with an easily doable prank/science project involving a moistened slice of bread.
If ever a new series deserved to go viral, this one does. (Graphic novel. 7-9)Pub Date: May 24, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-375-84389-1
Page Count: 98
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An action-packed contretemps, though in the end it's more a bit of technical advice for young artists than a general tribute...
Two artistes conflict, critique and ultimately collaborate amid a bracing mess of splashes and scribbles.
Deftly drawn in ways that reflect their individual styles, Ink the dapper mouse paints neatly limned still lifes, while disheveled Scribbles the cat sketches loose portraits with colored pencils. Turning up their noses at one another’s efforts (“Amateur!” “Hack!”), the two engage in an escalating squabble that begins with insults but soon takes over entire pages with Harold and the Purple Crayon–like figures and pranks. At last, a full-spread mutual meltdown depicted in wild scrawls and blotches leads to an agreement to work together—on a series of paintings (including one on a big double foldout) that bear strong resemblances to art by Leonardo da Vinci, Keith Haring and other renowned artists. Long’s visual exuberance echoes that achieved in the likes of David Catrow’s I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More (written by Karen Beaumont, 2005) and especially David Wiesner’s Art and Max (2010), which has a similar plot to boot. In closing, though, he identifies the artists he’s referenced and adds a distinctive fillip by suggesting that copying great art done by others isn’t a bad way to develop one’s own skills.
An action-packed contretemps, though in the end it's more a bit of technical advice for young artists than a general tribute to the benefits of working together. (downloadable blank sketchbook [not seen]) (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: June 25, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-60905-205-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Blue Apple
Review Posted Online: April 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012
© Copyright 2025 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.
