by Garret Freymann-Weyr & illustrated by Erin McGuire ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 2011
A splendidly illustrated but somewhat awkwardly spun tale of inner strength found when love is lost.
Preteens weaned on Disney princesses may swoon for this melancholy modern fairy tale starring the lovely Russian dressmaker Polina Panova who is neither a French duck nor from Venice, Italy, as the title suggests.
No, Polina is from Venice, Calif., the Venice with “surfers, bungalows, and seagulls,” and she’s adored by her two talking French duck friends Georges and Cécile. Polina sews her extraordinary dresses with silk and velvet, but also—magically—with flowers, jam and the night sky. Her live-in boyfriend, the handsome Sebastian Sterling (surely a prince, say the ducks), is a filmmaker in Los Angeles. One day, the fiercely loyal ducks spy Sterling with “the kind of suitcase you pack when you are going away forever.” Polina is sad to lose her love, but she throws herself into her dressmaking, which, in time, soothes her heartache—always an inspiring lesson for the romantically rejected. Debut illustrator McGuire’s digitally created, atmospheric canalscapes are deliciously infused with a soft light that reflects the dreamlike hush of Polina’s mystery-laden world. The oddly stilted and meandering story, however, isn’t nearly as enchanting as either the artwork or Polina’s dresses—the quirkiness feels contrived, and oft-repeated phrases such as “happy and peaceful and amazed” may just wear thin.
A splendidly illustrated but somewhat awkwardly spun tale of inner strength found when love is lost. (Illustrated fiction. 9-14)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7636-4173-3
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 6, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2011
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by Louis Sachar ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1998
Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this...
Sentenced to a brutal juvenile detention camp for a crime he didn't commit, a wimpy teenager turns four generations of bad family luck around in this sunburnt tale of courage, obsession, and buried treasure from Sachar (Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, 1995, etc.).
Driven mad by the murder of her black beau, a schoolteacher turns on the once-friendly, verdant town of Green Lake, Texas, becomes feared bandit Kissin' Kate Barlow, and dies, laughing, without revealing where she buried her stash. A century of rainless years later, lake and town are memories—but, with the involuntary help of gangs of juvenile offenders, the last descendant of the last residents is still digging. Enter Stanley Yelnats IV, great-grandson of one of Kissin' Kate's victims and the latest to fall to the family curse of being in the wrong place at the wrong time; under the direction of The Warden, a woman with rattlesnake venom polish on her long nails, Stanley and each of his fellow inmates dig a hole a day in the rock-hard lake bed. Weeks of punishing labor later, Stanley digs up a clue, but is canny enough to conceal the information of which hole it came from. Through flashbacks, Sachar weaves a complex net of hidden relationships and well-timed revelations as he puts his slightly larger-than-life characters under a sun so punishing that readers will be reaching for water bottles.
Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this rugged, engrossing adventure. (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 978-0-374-33265-5
Page Count: 233
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2000
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by Louis Sachar ; illustrated by Tim Heitz
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by Louis Sachar
by Dan Gemeinhart ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024
Fans of the first book will find much to appreciate in this heartfelt story of growth and change.
Coyote hits the highway again in this follow-up to 2019’s The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise.
Set one year later, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, this sequel finds Coyote Sunrise and her father, Rodeo, both cued white, having settled into a house in Oregon, with Rodeo receiving counseling and Coyote attending school for the first time in five years. But with school canceled for three weeks, it’s the perfect time for father and daughter to traverse the country in their bus. They’re off in search of a lost volume of poetry by Mary Oliver in which Coyote’s mother wrote down the location where they should scatter her ashes. As before, the pair accumulate a motley assemblage of fellow travelers who fall under the spell of the quirky duo. Coyote’s narrative flair propels the novel, but the emotional underpinnings have shifted. Thirteen-year-old Coyote’s parentified role has lessened, and, aggravated by challenges with classmates, she displays a believably volatile early-adolescent tone in her narration and behavior. Her friend Salvador, who’s Latine, is an empathetic, well-developed character. Thanks to Gemeinhart’s trademark compassion, each character participates in moments of poignant humanity, but many supporting characters feel more lightly sketched in, including Thai American former corporate lawyer Wally, who experiences anti-Asian racism related to the unfolding pandemic; purple-haired coder Candace, Rodeo’s new girlfriend; and a grieving older Englishwoman named Doreen.
Fans of the first book will find much to appreciate in this heartfelt story of growth and change. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781250292773
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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