This is not an emotionally involving tale but one that’s quirky and imaginative, aimed at middle-graders who like their...
Aided by her two corgis, the headmistress of the Great Rapscott School for Girls of Busy Parents teaches her 8-year-old charges—Beatrice, Mildred, Fay and Annabelle, children whose parents don’t have time for them—how to take care of themselves.
Primavera’s stylish story, while not laugh-out-loud funny, is undeniably humorous in tone, though paradoxically the situation is so poignant that it also has an underlying air of melancholy. The curriculum at Ms. Rapscott’s school is “How to Find Your Way,” and the students, who are brightly outlined but not given much internal shading, are graded on “pluck, enthusiasm, spirit of adventure, brilliance, and self-reliance.” Ms. Rapscott, an indefatigable, charismatic leader who immediately sees the best in her initially unappealing charges, is full of inspirational remarks, urging her students to “be like a good pair of boots: sturdy, durable, and waterproof.” The author’s darkly whimsical black-and-white drawings supply atmosphere and also tell parts of the story. Although the tone is absurd and fantastical rather than representative and realistic, the girls, who are taught etiquette and survival basics such as how to write a thank-you note and “cross the street without getting squashed,” grow and change in believable ways.
This is not an emotionally involving tale but one that’s quirky and imaginative, aimed at middle-graders who like their fiction with a twist. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3822-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2014
Sweetly magical.
Seven-year-old Grace knows a great many words, but she can’t bring herself to string them together on paper.
In her eyes, this gift is unique to her writer aunt, Lily, with whom she spends her afternoons. Lily, however, has found herself bereft of ideas, and out of desperation she puts out an ad for a writing assistant. Enter Rex: a dog whose apparent oddities cleverly conceal a magic that, while unexplained, is quietly remarkable. Rex inspires Lily almost immediately, and the two find happiness in their new partnership. Similarly, Rex inspires Grace to turn her words into stories. Her reservations will feel familiar to any fledgling pen-pusher: not knowing how to write what she feels, how to start, or how to press on. Those reservations extend into her everyday life, as it fills and changes in ways she never foresaw, but her small network—loving (if busy and often absent) parents, the wondrous Rex, Lily and her writing group, the encouraging teacher Ms. Luce, and steadfast, unflappable Daniel, Grace’s best friend—remains by her side throughout her writer’s journey. MacLachlan spins from simple words an enigmatic, gentle, but perhaps too succinct tale. While Grace’s first-person narration doesn’t quite ring true to her young age, (a lack of contractions makes the prose oddly formal), charmingly scratchy pencil sketches scattered throughout mitigate this alienating effect. The only physical descriptions to be found are attached to the animal characters.
Sweetly magical. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-294098-8
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
An exciting and thoughtful portrait inspired by a real animal who succeeded by being different.
A wolf cub charts his own path to pack leadership.
In this novel based on the life of a real wolf who was brought to Yellowstone National Park in 1995 as part of a conservation project, a young cub named Warm reckons with not being the biggest, strongest, or loudest at howling among his littermates. When an attack by another pack leaves him to care for a set of younger siblings—Leap, Snap, Quiver, and Yowl—Warm struggles to keep the cubs alive despite never having made a killing blow of his own. Even as his survival skills are tested, Warm develops a uniquely compassionate outlook that helps him navigate the recombination of packs and other dangers. Parry’s short sentences create a quickly moving story with deep emotional currents. The immediacy of Warm’s first-person voice and the abundant sensory descriptions pull readers right into the animals’ world, though the large cast of wolves can be difficult to keep track of. Armiño’s numerous, beautifully detailed black-and-white illustrations add ample emotion and dynamic movement. Environmentally conscious readers, animal lovers, and those with a taste for nonfiction will be thrilled by the extensive backmatter, which includes a darling hand-drawn map of Warm’s journey as well as photos and abundant information on wolf biology, recovery efforts, and the ecology of the American West.
An exciting and thoughtful portrait inspired by a real animal who succeeded by being different. (author’s note, resources) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780063415133
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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