Girls should identify and mothers should approve of this gentle tale of growing up.
A fifth-grade girl, who under the moniker Genie Wishes becomes the official class blogger, must negotiate the world of preadolescence as she grows away from her BFF.
Ten-year-old Genie Haddock Kunkle has been best friends with Sarah White since “what felt like forever.” But over the summer, Sarah went to camp with a girl named Blair Annabelle Lea, and now she’s in their class. Blair, 11, is more advanced than Genie: She’s interested in boys, shaves her legs, has a cellphone and wears makeup. Usually this type of situation is presented as a painful betrayal, but author Dahl’s take is more nuanced, and Genie is no one’s rejected suitor. Although Genie initially feels bad, she has her own set of values, which Dahl (too) clearly thinks are superior, and she is willing to move on and find more compatible friends. Dahl knows what it’s like to be 10, and telling details, such as the fact that Genie and Sarah’s future plans include living together within walking distance of their jobs as dolphin trainers, are spot on. She also nails the many decisions, both moral and practical, of preteenhood. Should Genie buy a bra? Plug a line of makeup Blair is selling on her blog?
Girls should identify and mothers should approve of this gentle tale of growing up. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 2, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0526-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2013
Delightfully weird and whimsical.
A 13-year-old girl and a colony of bats overcome losses in this middle-grade debut from Ready Player One author Cline.
After Opal B. Flats’ mother dies, she goes to live with Uncle Roscoe on the family farm in the Texas Hill Country. Her first night there, she has an alien encounter and subsequently discovers that she can communicate with the Mexican free-tailed bats living in a nearby cave. Their connection becomes essential when Opal, Uncle Roscoe, and the bats, through differing circumstances, are forced to find new homes. Opal and Uncle Roscoe, who read white, convince the bats to accompany them to Austin, “the only place in this whole stone-hearted state where weirdos are welcome!” If Opal and Uncle Roscoe have a slow start with fitting in, it’s even more difficult for a colony of over a million bats, especially when prejudice against them is being systematically reinforced by a greedy councilman whose pesticide business suffers when the bats start eating insects. The third-person narration unfolds in a homey style that’s colored with references to music and famous names that contribute to the sense of place, including Ann Richards, Selena, and Willie Nelson. Entries from Opal’s scrapbook are interspersed throughout. Readers will be relieved that, despite the hardships Opal and the bats must overcome, they ultimately prevail, succeeding in making friends and new homes for themselves in this celebratory primer on bats and belonging. Westell’s delicate, atmospheric illustrations greatly enhance the text.
Delightfully weird and whimsical. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9780316460583
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
Like a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter day.
Old friends return with new wards in this beloved series.
What do a skunk and a badger know about raising baby rats? Surprisingly little. In this third installment in the Skunk and Badger series—following Egg Marks the Spot (2021)—events have led the titular roommates to welcome the young rats Zephyr and Zeno into their home this winter. At first all goes swimmingly, with Badger convinced that he has time to write his first article for Rock Hound Weekly. Unfortunately, soon the rats are constructing zip lines, barrel racing, and launching unexpected—and unasked-for—scavenger hunts while their exhausted guardians clean up. As Badger stresses over his article, Skunk calls in reinforcements in the form of his chicken friends. But when Badger accidentally hibernates at just the wrong moment, is disaster inevitable? Readers enchanted by previous installments will have no difficulty following the duo’s further adventures, though newcomers would be wise to start at the series’ beginning. Badger’s focus on his rock work feels particularly adult at times, yet Timberlake’s descriptions of his obsessions often result in lovely prose (“The land is a book written by a glacier”). Distractions aside, the beating heart of the series remains the friendship between seemingly gruff Badger and sunny Skunk. Capturing snowfall and cozy scenes indoors, Klassen’s accompanying art imbues the storytelling with both a classic feel and an understated wit.
Like a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter day. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9781643750071
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
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