A superficial jumble next to Suzanne Collins and James Proimos’ Year of the Jungle (2013), Jill Biden and Raúl Colón’s Don’t...
Muddled intent and sloppy sentiment turn this soldier’s daughter’s vigil into a gooey slog.
Having parted from her uniformed father at a school send-off ceremony, young Ashley keeps him in her thoughts with a daily ritual: She throws a kiss to the flag following a private pledge—“I love you always, near or far. / We’ll do our parts / and keep strong hearts. / I throw a kiss to where you are.” She also makes silly flashcards (one features a head and a paper bag labeled “Bag-Dad”) and drawings to send as the seasons go by. Then one day in class, her eyes filled with “missing-Daddy tears,” she throws the kiss—and her father is there to “catch” it, setting off a joyful surprise reunion as her classmates cheer in the background. Cast in a thick golden haze, Rath’s illustrations offer frequent views of a waving American flag behind vaguely delineated figures with clumsily drawn facial features. With no discernable justification aside from general boosterism, a tribute written for older readers to the work of the USO and particularly one of its posts in Illinois has been tacked on after Ashley’s narrative.
A superficial jumble next to Suzanne Collins and James Proimos’ Year of the Jungle (2013), Jill Biden and Raúl Colón’s Don’t Forget, God Bless Our Troops (2012) and the many other more acute takes on this essential theme. (Picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4556-1890-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pelican
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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