Given its notable brevity and Ben's age-appropriate, oft-times snarky, attitude, this should be an easy sell for reluctant...
In a first-time collaboration between father and son, the Paulsens supply alternating chapters of this attractively depicted road trip with a strongly upbeat yet never didactic message.
Fourteen-year-old Ben is, reluctantly, on a journey with his dad and border collie, Atticus, to rescue a border collie puppy. Ben is barely speaking to his dad as his father drops one bombshell after another on him: He’s quit his job and started flipping houses for a very uncertain living, and Ben probably won't be able to attend a promised summer hockey camp that he worked for all year. Along the way, they begin to collect lightly sketched but nonetheless vividly portrayed characters: Ben's friend Theo, who is facing some low-security jail time but is trying hard to get his life together; Gus, a pithy car mechanic who has a talent for judging people and engines correctly; and attractive Mia, a waitress and wannabe actress who has been fending for herself but barely getting by. To amp up the action, Theo is being pursued by a career criminal with evil intentions. Chapters are told in the believable, alternating first-person voices of Ben and Atticus. Dog lovers will especially enjoy the amusing glimpses into the wise dog's mind.
Given its notable brevity and Ben's age-appropriate, oft-times snarky, attitude, this should be an easy sell for reluctant readers . (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-385-74191-0
Page Count: 1287
Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random
Review Posted Online: Oct. 23, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2012
Powerful, heartbreaking, and hopeful.
The boy “did something bad. Truly bad.”
A 107-year-old narrator speaks directly to someone named Olka, saying the stories in the book are about “me and you” as well as the boy, Alex (who presents white). What follows is an intense dual narrative that moves between the speaker’s tragic life during the Holocaust and contemporary 12-year-old Alex’s tale of loss and its aftermath. Alex’s mother has disappeared, and he lives with an aunt and uncle who don’t want him. His resentment, self-loathing, and all-consuming anger cause him to commit a violent act, “the Incident,” for which he’s arrested. His social worker arranges community service at Shady Glen Retirement Home, where he meets the narrator, Joseph “Josey” Kravitz, who keeps to himself and hasn’t spoken in five years. But he’s drawn to Alex and decides to share his story. When Alex’s terrible Incident is finally disclosed, readers will grasp its gravity. Both storylines are filled with misunderstandings, tragedy, horrible acts of hatred, and selfless acts of bravery, which affect the protagonists in profound ways. As they realize that they have much in common, both Alex and Josey learn they can “rise to the occasion of [their] lives.” Best-selling award winner Forman interweaves the tales carefully, with striking language and depth of feeling, allowing readers to understand the characters’ changing perspectives as they learn more about themselves and open up to people around them, many of whom become advocates and friends.
Powerful, heartbreaking, and hopeful. (author’s note, bibliography, further reading) (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9781665943277
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
Perfectly captures the “actual disorder” of being 13.
Lifelong best friends Eve and Andrew survive a “Category 5 emotional hurricane” in the first months of eighth grade.
Eve is thrilled when Andrew returns from two months away with his family, but things are immediately weird. It seems to matter—to their families and friends, anyway—that Eve’s a girl and Andrew’s a boy, even though the two of them don’t intend for anything to change. But when Eve’s cross-country friends start talking about dates for the school dance, Eve worries she’ll be “left out and left behind,” so during his marching band practice, she asks Andrew to go with her. Their respective friend groups assume they’re dating, ruining their friendship, which is especially unfortunate for Eve, whose parents have been fighting. Both kids receive tragically bad advice, and each ends up determined to make the other initiate the breakup—and each stubbornly refuses to be the one to break up with the other, leading to mean pranks, hurt feelings, and a huge fight at a school event. Eve struggles with the belief that her relationship with Andrew makes her mom happy; after the public disaster, Eve’s parents reassure her that it’s not her responsibility to hold the family together. Andrew’s mom teaches him about sincere, heartfelt communication. Andrew and Eve ultimately break up, restoring their friendship in a messily honest, heartfelt, and satisfying denouement on the playground. Main characters read white.
Perfectly captures the “actual disorder” of being 13. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: June 4, 2024
ISBN: 9781665950015
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
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