A gentle triumph.
In Newbery Award–winning author Higuera’s latest, cultural understanding between generations blossoms.
A Latine girl with brown skin and wavy brown hair lives in a modest farmhouse with her family, including her abuela. Abuela keeps busy with chores, and the yellow handkerchief she wears in her hair—a gift from her own grandmother—proves useful throughout the day. Feelings of shame and embarrassment swirl as the narrator’s visiting friend Becca, who presents White, asks innocent questions about what Abuela is doing. Reading Becca’s curiosity as criticism, the narrator concludes, “I definitely don’t like the yellow handkerchief.” To the granddaughter, the handkerchief has come to represent a sense of otherness, and as she thinks about Abuela growing her own food, raising chickens, and speaking Spanish, she wishes that her family could do things more “like everyone else.” When Abuela needs to leave for several days, the girl steps into the role of caretaker, donning the yellow handkerchief to stay connected to Abuela, and gains new appreciation for her grandmother’s hard work. A sweet reunion brings with it acceptance and a new capacity for self-love. Alonso’s saturated, textured artwork brims with emotion. Her dynamic illustrations paired with evocative, purposeful prose convey the nuance of identity and young people’s often complicated feelings about their families and cultural backgrounds. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A gentle triumph. (author’s note) (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 9781419760143
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading.
When Franklin School principal Mr. Boone announces a pet-show fundraiser, white third-grader Cody—whose lack of skill and interest in academics is matched by keen enthusiasm for and knowledge of animals—discovers his time to shine.
As with other books in this series, the children and adults are believable and well-rounded. Even the dialogue is natural—no small feat for a text easily accessible to intermediate readers. Character growth occurs, organically and believably. Students occasionally, humorously, show annoyance with teachers: “He made mad squinty eyes at Mrs. Molina, which fortunately she didn’t see.” Readers will be kept entertained by Cody’s various problems and the eventual solutions. His problems include needing to raise $10 to enter one of his nine pets in the show (he really wants to enter all of them), his troublesome dog Angus—“a dog who ate homework—actually, who ate everything and then threw up afterward”—struggles with homework, and grappling with his best friend’s apparently uncaring behavior toward a squirrel. Serious values and issues are explored with a light touch. The cheery pencil illustrations show the school’s racially diverse population as well as the memorable image of Mr. Boone wearing an elephant costume. A minor oddity: why does a child so immersed in animal facts call his male chicken a rooster but his female chickens chickens?
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30223-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
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