by Donna Gephart ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 3, 2016
Gephart’s compassion is noble, but it’s not enough to make Lily's story resonate.
Lily is trans and is facing puberty, which will make her look less than herself than she does now, while new kid Dunkin’s manic impulsiveness makes him a misfit; though they click immediately, life gets complicated.
According to her author’s note, Gephart promised her son a story with a character who is bipolar like him and promised herself a story of a trans girl, to help foster understanding of people like them. Gephart clearly has a lot of heart, and she tells their stories with compassion. They speak in alternating first-person narration with cursive headers for Lily and block capitals for Dunkin. Dunkin’s insensitivity during manic episodes doesn’t erase the fact that he’s a good kid, and that comes through. But trans readers will likely not recognize themselves in Lily, even if they share some common ground. Lily is perfectly polite, unfailingly kind, with nary a bad thought, angelic right up to her fairy-tale ending. Though Gephart does a good job of rounding out her other characters, Lily is so pristine that she feels mythical, falling into the pile of fiction’s magical misfits so perfect it’s impossible not to accept this one little departure from the norm. There are too few messy, complicated trans heroes that still find love and acceptance in literature for kids, and while cis readers may find it educational, this isn’t going to change that.
Gephart’s compassion is noble, but it’s not enough to make Lily's story resonate. (resources) (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-553-53674-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
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by Raina Telgemeier & illustrated by Raina Telgemeier ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2012
Brava!
From award winner Telgemeier (Smile, 2010), a pitch-perfect graphic novel portrayal of a middle school musical, adroitly capturing the drama both on and offstage.
Seventh-grader Callie Marin is over-the-moon to be on stage crew again this year for Eucalyptus Middle School’s production of Moon over Mississippi. Callie's just getting over popular baseball jock and eighth-grader Greg, who crushed her when he left Callie to return to his girlfriend, Bonnie, the stuck-up star of the play. Callie's healing heart is quickly captured by Justin and Jesse Mendocino, the two very cute twins who are working on the play with her. Equally determined to make the best sets possible with a shoestring budget and to get one of the Mendocino boys to notice her, the immensely likable Callie will find this to be an extremely drama-filled experience indeed. The palpably engaging and whip-smart characterization ensures that the charisma and camaraderie run high among those working on the production. When Greg snubs Callie in the halls and misses her reference to Guys and Dolls, one of her friends assuredly tells her, "Don't worry, Cal. We’re the cool kids….He's the dork." With the clear, stylish art, the strongly appealing characters and just the right pinch of drama, this book will undoubtedly make readers stand up and cheer.
Brava! (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-32698-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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by Raina Telgemeier ; illustrated by Raina Telgemeier
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by Raina Telgemeier ; illustrated by Raina Telgemeier
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by Raina Telgemeier ; illustrated by Raina Telgemeier
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SEEN & HEARD
by Sarah Dooley ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 4, 2017
Some readers may feel that the resolution comes a mite too easily, but most will enjoy the journey and be pleased when...
Two sisters make an unauthorized expedition to their former hometown and in the process bring together the two parts of their divided family.
Dooley packs plenty of emotion into this eventful road trip, which takes place over the course of less than 24 hours. Twelve-year-old Ophelia, nicknamed Fella, and her 16-year-old sister, Zoey Grace, aka Zany, are the daughters of a lesbian couple, Shannon and Lacy, who could not legally marry. The two white girls squabble and share memories as they travel from West Virginia to Asheville, North Carolina, where Zany is determined to scatter Mama Lacy’s ashes in accordance with her wishes. The year is 2004, before the Supreme Court decision on gay marriage, and the girls have been separated by hostile, antediluvian custodial laws. Fella’s present-tense narration paints pictures not just of the difficulties they face on the trip (a snowstorm, car trouble, and an unlikely thief among them), but also of their lives before Mama Lacy’s illness and of the ways that things have changed since then. Breathless and engaging, Fella’s distinctive voice is convincingly childlike. The conversations she has with her sister, as well as her insights about their relationship, likewise ring true. While the girls face serious issues, amusing details and the caring adults in their lives keep the tone relatively light.
Some readers may feel that the resolution comes a mite too easily, but most will enjoy the journey and be pleased when Fella’s family figures out how to come together in a new way . (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-16504-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
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