A solid story of friendship, mystery, and one girl’s perseverance, in which a health scare and its rumors mirror today’s...
Infected rats and San Francisco’s dark past at the turn of the 20th century come to light in Newbery Honoree Choldenko’s (Al Capone Does My Shirts, 2004, etc.) look into an outbreak of bubonic plague.
Even though 13-year-old Lizzie Kennedy attends the prim and proper Miss Barstow’s School for Young Women, courtesy of well-to-do Aunt Hortense and Uncle Karl, she’d rather accompany Papa on his medical house calls. She longs to follow in her father’s footsteps, unheard of for a girl and unlike her grouchy older brother, Billy. To ease her school loneliness, Lizzie relies on Jing, her family’s beloved cook, who never fails to make her smile. As rumors about the plague infecting San Francisco abound, only Chinatown is put under quarantine. When Jing fails to return home, Lizzie fears he may be stuck in Chinatown. She’s desperate to find him, not only for herself, but for Jing’s 12-year-old son, Noah, who is hiding out in Jing’s upstairs room. Lizzie and Noah’s secret friendship grows with genuine tenderness and illuminates the differences and injustices that exist within gender, class, and race. Historical details, such as Joseph Kinyoun’s pathogen experiment and immunization politics, feel meticulously researched (and familiar to the point of contemporaneity) but never take away from the story’s heart.
A solid story of friendship, mystery, and one girl’s perseverance, in which a health scare and its rumors mirror today’s epidemics. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 8-14)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-74253-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
A wild romp that champions making space for vulnerable creatures and each other.
A boy with ADHD explores nature and himself.
Eleven-year-old Jake Rizzi just wants to be seen as “normal”; he blames his brain for leading him into trouble and making him do things that annoy his peers and even his own parents. Case in point: He’s stuck spending a week in rural Oregon with an aunt he barely knows while his parents go on vacation. Jake’s reluctance changes as he learns about the town’s annual festival, during which locals search for a fabled turtle. But news of this possibly undiscovered species has spread. Although Aunt Hettle insists to Jake that it’s only folklore, the fame-hungry convene, sure that the Ruby-Backed Turtle is indeed real—just as Jake discovers is the case. Keeping its existence secret is critical to protecting the rare creature from a poacher and others with ill intentions. Readers will keep turning pages to find out how Jake and new friend Mia will foil the caricatured villains. Along the way, Bramucci packs in teachable moments around digital literacy, mindfulness, and ecological interdependence, along with the message that “the only way to protect the natural world is to love it.” Jake’s inner monologue elucidates the challenges and benefits of ADHD as well as practical coping strategies. Whether or not readers share Jake’s diagnosis, they’ll empathize with his insecurities. Jake and his family present white; Mia is Black, and names of secondary characters indicate some ethnic diversity.
A wild romp that champions making space for vulnerable creatures and each other. (Adventure. 8-11)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781547607020
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Guaranteed to enchant, enthrall, and enmagick.
An elderly witch, a magical girl, a brave carpenter, a wise monster, a tiny dragon, paper birds, and a madwoman converge to thwart a magician who feeds on sorrow.
Every year Elders of the Protectorate leave a baby in the forest, warning everyone an evil Witch demands this sacrifice. In reality, every year, a kind witch named Xan rescues the babies and find families for them. One year Xan saves a baby girl with a crescent birthmark who accidentally feeds on moonlight and becomes “enmagicked.” Magic babies can be tricky, so Xan adopts little Luna herself and lovingly raises her, with help from an ancient swamp monster and a chatty, wee dragon. Luna’s magical powers emerge as her 13th birthday approaches. Meanwhile, Luna’s deranged real mother enters the forest to find her daughter. Simultaneously, a young carpenter from the Protectorate enters the forest to kill the Witch and end the sacrifices. Xan also enters the forest to rescue the next sacrificed child, and Luna, the monster, and the dragon enter the forest to protect Xan. In the dramatic denouement, a volcano erupts, the real villain attempts to destroy all, and love prevails. Replete with traditional motifs, this nontraditional fairy tale boasts sinister and endearing characters, magical elements, strong storytelling, and unleashed forces. Luna has black eyes, curly, black hair, and “amber” skin.
Guaranteed to enchant, enthrall, and enmagick. (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-61620-567-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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