This book is for readers who are really into princesses and ready for longer chapter books
In the first book of this new Disney series, Milla learns to recognize her own strengths as she pursues an adventure with a new group of friends.
Fifth-grader Milla, a brown-skinned girl with puffy black curls, loves reading about and writing adventures, but her real-life exploits are limited. Her two moms worry about her being out on her own due to her severe food allergies and a dog bite when she was younger. The fifth-grade overnight Adventure Camp trip seems like a good chance for Milla to take a step toward independence. With the help of new friends in the Daring Dreamers Club and their adviser, the flamboyant Ms. Bancroft, Milla devises plans to show her moms how responsible she can be. The girls in the club have varied interests as well as some surface ethnic and religious diversity: Mariana mentions her abuela; Piper is Jewish; Zahra is Somali and wears hijab, and she delivers a robotic-sounding monologue about her discomfort with Milla’s pet pig due to her “Islamic faith.” The inclusion of Disney princesses in the storyline is neither subtle nor convincing. Ms. Bancroft has the girls write about a princess they relate to, not because she sees that they are interested in princesses but because, she says, “princesses helped me find my big dream.”
This book is for readers who are really into princesses and ready for longer chapter books . (Fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: June 5, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7364-3924-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers.
First volume of a planned three, this edited version of an ongoing online serial records a middle-school everykid’s triumphs and (more often) tribulations through the course of a school year.
Largely through his own fault, mishaps seem to plague Greg at every turn, from the minor freak-outs of finding himself permanently seated in class between two pierced stoners and then being saddled with his mom for a substitute teacher, to being forced to wrestle in gym with a weird classmate who has invited him to view his “secret freckle.” Presented in a mix of legible “hand-lettered” text and lots of simple cartoon illustrations with the punch lines often in dialogue balloons, Greg’s escapades, unwavering self-interest and sardonic commentary are a hoot and a half.
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-8109-9313-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
Move over Ramona Quimby, Portland has another neighbor you have to meet!
Ryan Hart is navigating the fourth grade and all its challenges with determination.
Her mom named her Ryan because it means “king,” and she wanted Ryan to feel powerful every time she heard her name; Ryan knows it means she is a leader. So when changes occur or disaster strikes, budding chef Ryan does her best to find the positive and “make sunshine.” When her dad is laid off from the post office, the family must make adjustments that include moving into a smaller house, selling their car, and changing how they shop for groceries. But Ryan gets to stay at Vernon Elementary, and her mom still finds a way to get her the ingredients she needs to practice new recipes. Her older brother, Ray, can be bossy, but he finds little ways to support her, especially when she is down—as does the whole family. Each episodic chapter confronts Ryan with a situation; intermittently funny, frustrating, and touching, they should be familiar and accessible to readers, as when Ryan fumbles her Easter speech despite careful practice. Ryan, her family, and friends are Black, and Watson continues to bring visibility to both Portland, Oregon, generally and its Black community specifically, making another wonderful contribution that allows Black readers to see themselves and all readers to find a character they can love.
Move over Ramona Quimby, Portland has another neighbor you have to meet! (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: April 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0056-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
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