Readers who identify with Wendell may feel a call to action; those who identify with Callie may just be exasperated at the...
It’s 1953 in Celeste, Kentucky, and 11-year-old Callie Robinson wants to report news for the local black newspaper, the Advance. Wendell Crow is quite the opposite; the white boy spends his summer days by the river, hoping no one will notice him.
When Callie goes in search of a stray dog and Wendell tries to find an old cabin said to be hidden in the woods, the two children inevitably cross paths and join forces. Both cabin and dog lead Callie and Wendell to learn about a white boy who drowned in the river some years prior. The third-person narration alternates its focus primarily between Callie and Wendell but also includes Mr. Renfrow, the Advance’s editor, and two ghosts: the drowned boy and an enslaved child who died there heading north. The inclusion of the ghosts stresses the importance of remembering the past, but unfortunately, they dilute the urgency of the present-day plot. Segregated Celeste’s balance depends on not “troubling the water,” but Callie and Wendell’s mystery plays out against Mr. Renfrow’s call for the integration of the town swimming pool; both lead to violence. Dowell writes a quiet story that largely relies on metaphor and indirection to guide its readers. Callie is limned with bold strokes: she is brave, feisty, and determined. While Wendell too is drawn broadly—he often defaults to period-typical stereotyping about race and gender, but he also has an intrinsic sense of fairness—he is given more of a character arc, as expressed when Mr. Renfrow tells Callie that Wendell is only just learning what it means to be “an eyewitness to injustice.” The conclusion leaves Callie and Wendell’s, and Celeste’s, story unresolved.
Readers who identify with Wendell may feel a call to action; those who identify with Callie may just be exasperated at the inaction. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-2463-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A real gem.
A 10-year old girl learns to adjust to a strange town, makes some fascinating friends, and fills the empty space in her heart thanks to a big old stray dog in this lyrical, moving, and enchanting book by a fresh new voice.
India Opal’s mama left when she was only three, and her father, “the preacher,” is absorbed in his own loss and in the work of his new ministry at the Open-Arms Baptist Church of Naomi [Florida]. Enter Winn-Dixie, a dog who “looked like a big piece of old brown carpet that had been left out in the rain.” But, this dog had a grin “so big that it made him sneeze.” And, as Opal says, “It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor.” Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal meets Miss Franny Block, an elderly lady whose papa built her a library of her own when she was just a little girl and she’s been the librarian ever since. Then, there’s nearly blind Gloria Dump, who hangs the empty bottle wreckage of her past from the mistake tree in her back yard. And, Otis, oh yes, Otis, whose music charms the gerbils, rabbits, snakes and lizards he’s let out of their cages in the pet store. Brush strokes of magical realism elevate this beyond a simple story of friendship to a well-crafted tale of community and fellowship, of sweetness, sorrow and hope. And, it’s funny, too.
A real gem. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0776-2
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
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