A heartwarming and whimsical sequel.
Crushes, competition, and calamity ensue on a class camping trip.
Following on Nell of Gumbling: My Extremely Normal Fairy-Tale Life (2023), this cheery sequel follows ruddy, bespectacled Nell Starkeeper as she’s about to embark on an adventure with friends Thumbkin Gil, fairy Myra, human Leabelle, and unicorn-centaur Voila. The group is competing in the Multi-Disciplinary Wilderness Engagement Adventure, and the stakes are high, especially since Nell’s rival, Tony Pfluff, is also there. With his good looks, Romesh Roy, Nell’s group leader, immediately catches her eye, but her crush is tempered by his determination to win at all costs. The dynamics between the friends falter as unspoken crushes and resentments surge among them. When a misspoken wish upends Nell and the crew, communication and teamwork may be the only options that will save them. Steinkellner offers readers an alluring mix of Nell’s prose journal entries alternating with full-color comic panels; together they form a visually delightful page-turner. Though the story is rooted in a fantasy world, readers (especially those who appreciate the gentle angst of Raina Telgemeier’s and Judd Winick’s graphic novels) will find this volume utterly relatable; they’ll appreciate the young friends’ stumbles as they navigate their ways through life’s twists and turns. The cast is diverse, with queer characters, a range of skin tones, and a refreshingly realistic spectrum of body sizes.
A heartwarming and whimsical sequel. (annotated script, fun facts) (Graphic fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9780593570708
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Labyrinth Road
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
