Choldenko hits a grand slam with this richly rewarding sequel about baseball-loving Moose and his life on Alcatraz in 1935. After his autistic sister Natalie was accepted to a special boarding school at the end of Newbery Honor–winning Al Capone Does My Shirts (2004) due to strings presumably pulled by the notorious mobster, 12-year-old Moose Flanagan assumed he was off the hook. Then the next note comes through the prison laundry, stating, “Your turn.” The author continues to develop Moose’s humorous, authentic voice as he wrestles with the moral dilemma of owing favors to criminals, his attraction to pretty, pot-stirring Piper despite her manipulative ways and his shifting feelings of relief and guilt over his sister’s absence. When Moose and the other Alcatraz kids find themselves in the middle of a frightening prison break, rule-abiding Moose learns that “[s]ometimes making trouble is the right thing to do,” demonstrating his deepening understanding of a world that is not black and white. Effortless period dialogue, fully developed secondary characters and a perfectly paced plot combine to create a solid-gold sequel that will not disappoint. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10 & up)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3460-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2009
A perfect first book for this new Muslim imprint.
A Pakistani-American girl starting middle school learns how to cope with the changes and challenges she faces at home, at school, and within her close-knit Muslim community.
True to her parents’ endearment for her, geeta (“song” in Urdu), Amina loves to sing. But unlike the contestants on her favorite reality TV show The Voice, Amina shuns the spotlight—she’s a bundle of nerves in front of an audience! She’s happy living her life as usual, hanging out with her best friend, Korean-American Soojin, playing the piano, and attending Sunday school at the Islamic Center. Except that life isn’t “as usual” anymore. In fact, everything is changing, and changing fast. Soojin wants an “American” name to go with her new citizenship status, and even worse, Soojin starts getting chummy with their elementary school nemesis, a white girl named Emily, leaving a jealous Amina fuming. Then, her visiting uncle voices his disapproval of her piano-playing, saying it’s forbidden in Islam. Finally, when the Islamic Center is vandalized, Amina feels like the whole world as she knows it is crumbling around her. With the help and support of the larger community, the Islamic Center is slowly rebuilt, and Amina comes to terms with her identity and culture, finding strength in her own voice. Khan deftly—and subtly—weaves aspects of Pakistani and Muslim culture into her story, allowing readers to unconsciously absorb details and develop understanding and compassion for another culture and faith. Amina’s middle school woes and the universal themes running through the book transcend culture, race, and religion.
A perfect first book for this new Muslim imprint. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-9206-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
Moving and perceptive: Hankies are a must.
A sixth grader struggles with feelings and survival strategies after his single mom disappears.
Hank is more or less used to being left to cope with caring for himself and his 3-year-old sister, Boo, for short stretches—but when their mother vanishes for a week, the power goes off, and the landlord serves an eviction notice, it’s crisis time. What’s the right thing to do? Along with sensitively exploring Hank’s rough emotional landscape as his mother’s whereabouts remain unknown, Choldenko offers a moving portrayal of the powerful bonds that connect him, an unwillingly parentified child, and the younger sibling who means everything to him. Throwing themselves on the mercies of strangers with emotional vulnerabilities of their own earns at least temporary respite but also leads to brushes with the foster care system, the threat of being separated, and, most wrenchingly, the necessity of making yet another consequential choice; finally, his sorely missed mom abruptly reappears. Meanwhile, not only does a neighbor’s extended Latine clan give the two white children their first glimpses of life in a bustling household, but Hank gets a warmer welcome than he was expecting from the diverse classmates at his new middle school. These experiences, plus the fact that Hank and Boo are both strongly appealing characters in their own different ways, will give readers cause for intense relief when the author throws the pair a lifeline at the end.
Moving and perceptive: Hankies are a must. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: June 11, 2024
ISBN: 9781524718923
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
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