A vivid and informative, if limited, tale about Brazil for young readers.
This third installment of a children’s book series follows a family on a trip to Rio de Janeiro.
Sometimes dreams become reality. When Mori dreams of traveling to Brazil on vacation, he wakes up to find out that he; his sister, Valencia; and his parents really are going there in less than a week. Their trip is frantic from the get-go, as they oversleep and almost miss their flight from Atlanta. They barely stop to rest upon arrival in Rio and instead choose to go straight to the beach. Their trip is marked by nonstop tourism as they visit local landmarks and learn about Brazil’s Indigenous history. There is something for everyone: a museum trip about Brazil’s history of colonization by the Portuguese, a venture into the Amazon rainforest to see the animals, and a front-row seat at Carnival. But despite the novel’s title, it does not demonstrate an actual exchange of cultures: Readers simply follow Mori and his family as they tour Rio and its surroundings. Godoy’s story is fairly devoid of plot but makes a special effort to make every moment teachable and includes an emphasis on the Indigenous cultures of Brazil. Punctuating the tale from time to time are Lim’s black-and-white illustrations, which are light on artistic details but nonetheless convey a certain brightness and energy through the characters’ facial expressions. There is neither backmatter citing sources for the story’s facts nor avenues for further exploration for readers interested in Brazil. Some facts, such as “The people in Brazil totally respect” the statue called Christ the Redeemer and “most of them, especially the Christians, see Christ as the Savior of the world,” beg for supporting evidence. But families willing to overlook this may use this bookas an introduction for early elementary school kids to this South American nation. They may also appreciate the emphasis on the African diaspora; Mori and his family are Black Americans.
A vivid and informative, if limited, tale about Brazil for young readers.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9780999473443
Page Count: 70
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Move over, Holmes and Watson. There’s a new detecting pair in town, and the name’s Bland.
Magicians are supposed to disappear, but this one may have a hard time coming back.
Once again white sisters Jaundice and Kale would like nothing better than to stay at home darning socks and tying knots. Once again their parents won’t let them. Having already been shanghaied by pirates (The Jolly Regina, 2017), the last thing they’d expect is to be swept onto a fast-moving train by Magique, a magician sent by their parents. And the next-to-last thing they’d expect would be for Magique to disappear, perhaps permanently, while they’re en route to the Uncanny Valley. Soon they find themselves assisting illustriously mustachioed Hugo Fromage, detective extraordinaire. It’s a train full of suspects, and no one is quite what they seem. The sudden turn the series takes into murder-mystery territory comes as a nice counterweight to its previous swashbuckling adventure. LaReau has a lot of fun with her Agatha Christie homage, filling her book to the brim with requisite gags and puns. The Bland sisters live up to their names (“I’m not myself until I’ve had my plain oatmeal and weak, tepid tea”), counterintuitively enlivening the narrative with their over-the-top despondency. Granted, kids hoping for further piratical fare may be disappointed, but the jokes and charming pen-and-ink cartoons (which depict a multicultural cast) will pad the blow.
Move over, Holmes and Watson. There’s a new detecting pair in town, and the name’s Bland. (Mystery. 7-9)Pub Date: Jan. 9, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2568-5
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
A Pollyanna for the 21st century
Young debut author Gonzalez joins veteran co-author Brown (Lola Levine and the Halloween Scream, 2017) to kick off a semiautobiographical chapter-book series based on her life growing up with a large and loving immigrant family in New Jersey.
Fourth-grader Sarai is the oldest of three girls in a tightknit Latinx family (her mom was born in Peru, and her dad was born in Costa Rica). She is the epitome of positive thinking, with ambition to spare. When her beloved grandfather learns that the owner of the house he has been renting, and which he shares with his extended family, has decided to sell, Sarai is immediately concerned. Where will her abuelos, tíos, and primos live? What if they are no longer close by? Sarai’s optimism does not let her stay down for long, and she immediately hatches a plan to use her fledgling cupcake business to raise the money needed to buy the house. Little sisters making a mess of the kitchen cause some trouble, but basic economics presents insurmountable odds—still, the ending is undoubtedly happy all the same. Sarai’s neighborliness and strong family values may be aspirational for many in our contemporary society, but her contagious joy might just set readers on the road to remedy that. Though none of her plans ultimately succeed, she remains irrepressibly hopeful throughout; it’s an admirable hope that fuels hard work and ingenuity. Almeda’s illustrations depict Sarai and her family with brown skin and black hair.
A Pollyanna for the 21st century . (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-23668-2
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
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