A resonant, richly drawn story about confronting obstacles, asking courageous questions, and forging your own path.
In 1999, Canadian twin sisters learn about themselves while pursuing their dream.
Sloane and Ash love art. While Sloane is anxious and measured, Ash is passionate and outgoing. As big Disney fans, they’re excited to be attending a prestigious summer animation program. They quickly befriend fellow students Cameron and Nisha, who’s the only other girl present (the sisters and Cameron appear white, and Nisha is cued South Asian). Their teachers include Douglas Frye, who directed a movie both girls love; Ash is especially starstruck. But Mr. Frye is dismissive of the obviously talented Nisha, while favoring a white-presenting boy whose work isn’t as strong. Ash, who reads queer, realizes that her enthusiasm doesn’t immediately translate into skill, and she questions her future in animation when Mr. Frye undermines her. Meanwhile, Sloane isn’t enjoying the program as much as expected and struggles with motivation. With wise, compassionate guidance from Asian Canadian film studies instructor Lisa Sato, who introduces the class to anime—plus a “Kiki’s Delivery Service” movie night with Studio Ghibli fan Nisha—the twins find their ways back to loving art on their own terms. The leads’ realistic growth and the story’s nuanced exploration of relatable and relevant themes make this work a standout. The energetic, jewel-toned artwork highlights the characters’ full range of emotions and brings to life the scenes from animated films.
A resonant, richly drawn story about confronting obstacles, asking courageous questions, and forging your own path. (definitions, bibliography, sketches and concept art) (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9781250838759
Page Count: 240
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.
If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?
For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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