An energetic and thoughtful story highlighting the experiences of the blind community.
Scared of what people will think and hoping to fit in, Roxie hides the truth about her family at her new school.
When her family moves to a different town, Roxie is apprehensive about starting seventh grade. She’s nervous that things will be like they were at her old school, where she was bullied because her parents are blind. After Roxie saves popular Quinn from being hit by a car, she’s invited to begin hanging out with her social group. She lies to her parents and keeps secrets, causing serious trouble for herself and her family. Throughout the story, readers experience what it’s like growing up as a sighted kid with blind parents. Explanatory sections detail how Roxie’s parents navigate their lives, medical conditions that cause blindness, and the discrimination that blind people face. Although the lessons are heavy-handed at times, they’re effective and consistent with the characters’ personalities. Many secondary characters are blind or are family members of blind people, and Roxie finds immense comfort in their presence. Blind characters are shown in positions of high esteem, such as software engineer (Roxie’s dad), psychologist (Roxie’s mom), and YouTuber. Fun chapters told from the point of view of Roxie’s mom’s guide dog, Nash, offer insights into guide dogs’ training and roles. Roxie’s family presents white. The book uses the Atkinson Hyperlegible font, which increases accessibility for low-vision readers.
An energetic and thoughtful story highlighting the experiences of the blind community. (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: June 2, 2026
ISBN: 9781536246605
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
A real gem.
A 10-year old girl learns to adjust to a strange town, makes some fascinating friends, and fills the empty space in her heart thanks to a big old stray dog in this lyrical, moving, and enchanting book by a fresh new voice.
India Opal’s mama left when she was only three, and her father, “the preacher,” is absorbed in his own loss and in the work of his new ministry at the Open-Arms Baptist Church of Naomi [Florida]. Enter Winn-Dixie, a dog who “looked like a big piece of old brown carpet that had been left out in the rain.” But, this dog had a grin “so big that it made him sneeze.” And, as Opal says, “It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor.” Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal meets Miss Franny Block, an elderly lady whose papa built her a library of her own when she was just a little girl and she’s been the librarian ever since. Then, there’s nearly blind Gloria Dump, who hangs the empty bottle wreckage of her past from the mistake tree in her back yard. And, Otis, oh yes, Otis, whose music charms the gerbils, rabbits, snakes and lizards he’s let out of their cages in the pet store. Brush strokes of magical realism elevate this beyond a simple story of friendship to a well-crafted tale of community and fellowship, of sweetness, sorrow and hope. And, it’s funny, too.
A real gem. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0776-2
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
SEEN & HEARD
Entrancing and uplifting.
A small dog, the elderly woman who owns him, and a homeless girl come together to create a tale of serendipity.
Piper, almost 12, her parents, and her younger brother are at the bottom of a long slide toward homelessness. Finally in a family shelter, Piper finds that her newfound safety gives her the opportunity to reach out to someone who needs help even more. Jewel, mentally ill, lives in the park with her dog, Baby. Unwilling to leave her pet, and forbidden to enter the shelter with him, she struggles with the winter weather. Ree, also homeless and with a large dog, helps when she can, but after Jewel gets sick and is hospitalized, Baby’s taken to the animal shelter, and Ree can’t manage the complex issues alone. It’s Piper, using her best investigative skills, who figures out Jewel’s backstory. Still, she needs all the help of the shelter Firefly Girls troop that she joins to achieve her accomplishment: to raise enough money to provide Jewel and Baby with a secure, hopeful future and, maybe, with their kindness, to inspire a happier story for Ree. Told in the authentic alternating voices of loving child and loyal dog, this tale could easily slump into a syrupy melodrama, but Pyron lets her well-drawn characters earn their believable happy ending, step by challenging step, by reaching out and working together. Piper, her family, and Jewel present white; Pyron uses hair and naming convention, respectively, to cue Ree as black and Piper’s friend Gabriela as Latinx.
Entrancing and uplifting. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-283922-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
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