A winning primer on how to rock reading.
Miniature rock star Lupe Lopez takes on her next big battle—reading!
Start a band in kindergarten? Done that! Now it’s the first day of first grade at Hector P. Garcia Elementary School, and our protagonist, whom readers may remember from Lupe Lopez: Rock Star Rules! (2022), is ready. Her goal for the year? Become a Reading Rock Star. With her pencil drumsticks in hand and pals beside her, Lupe swaggers into class prepared to read. Her first attempt at reading in class…doesn’t go too well. Worse yet, Victor Valdez (who’s totally in Group B and not Group A for Awesome like Lupe) seizes every opportunity to embarrass Lupe. It sure seems like “the worst day a first-grader ever had at Hector P. Garcia Elementary.” The following day, Ms. Moreno shares a sweet secret with a crestfallen Lupe: “Reading is like music.” Aha! Before long, Lupe bangs out to the beat of reading, one step closer to her rock star dream. A delightful romp, Lupe’s latest adventure leaps off the page with a “¡BOOM-TICA-BAM!” The authors bolster Lupe’s infectious sass even further, serving up the humorous melodrama that boosts her eventual comeback song. Hector P. Garcia Elementary remains a community of primarily brown-skinned, Latine-cued students and teachers, with a few words in Spanish sprinkled throughout. The artwork favors bold blues, lush purples, and creamy pinks, veering from solid swaths to fizzy bursts as Lupe ascends from reluctant reader to Reading Rock Star. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A winning primer on how to rock reading. (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 9781536209556
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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