A page-turner that doesn’t offer all the answers.
Budding cowboy Danny is faced with a crushing moral dilemma.
His border collie, Banjo, feral when adopted seven years ago, has been accused by a neighboring rancher’s sons of joining wild dogs in attacking their flock. They say they had to shoot at Banjo to stop him. Now the neighbor wants Banjo to be euthanized, claiming he’s dangerous. Danny knows Banjo wouldn’t attack livestock, but his dog has clearly been winged by a bullet. His earnest father allows the 13-year-old two days to find Banjo another home. When no one will agree to take the dog, Danny and his older brother bring him into the mountains and drive him away with gunfire, hoping he’ll recall his feral background and survive—then claim to have shot him. But Danny knows Banjo’s chances are uncertain, and he suffers agonizing guilt: He’s failed Banjo and deceived his father. Meanwhile, talented horse-whisperer Meg finds Banjo and cares for him but is determined to discover who would abandon such a good dog. Although Banjo’s placement is eventually resolved and his innocence proven, the moral ambiguity of the teen’s situation not only dominates the narrative, but will leave many readers wondering what other course he could have taken. White-default characters are carefully drawn, and the sustained suspense makes for an engaging tale set in rural Oregon.
A page-turner that doesn’t offer all the answers. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-375-84264-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
This debut is a treasure: a gift to every middle school girl who ever felt unpretty, unloved, and trapped by her...
In pursuit of her dreams, Vanessa becomes an unlikely contestant in her middle school’s first-ever pageant.
African-American eighth-grader Vanessa Martin is glued to the TV when Vanessa Williams is crowned the first black Miss America in 1983. Inspired, Vanessa imagines her own dreams coming true. Maybe she can rise above her painful family problems and dissatisfaction with her dark skin. Maybe she can escape her gang- and drug-plagued neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey. But when the new music teacher, Mrs. Walton, who is white, encourages Vanessa to audition for the school’s first-ever pageant, she declines. She has an extraordinary singing voice but lacks the confidence to compete. When Mrs. Walton, Vanessa’s grandpa Pop Pop, and her cousin TJ join forces to get her to try out, she must face her fears—and the neighborhood mean girl—to have a shot at realizing her dreams. Vanessa’s compelling story unfolds through a combination of first-person narrative, diary entries, and well-crafted poems that perfectly capture the teen voice and perspective. From the first page, readers are drawn into Vanessa’s world, a place of poverty, abandonment, and secrets—and abiding love and care. The soundscape of early rap music helps bring the ’80s to life and amplifies Vanessa’s concerns about racism, friendship, family, and her future. Readers of all ages and backgrounds will cheer Vanessa on and see themselves in her story.
This debut is a treasure: a gift to every middle school girl who ever felt unpretty, unloved, and trapped by her circumstances. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-58089-777-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Despite the differing perspectives, though, it’s never more than a superficial exploration of the differences between...
Seventh-grade fraternal twins Owen and Russell are as different as night and day, and that spells trouble when both of them make the basketball team.
Owen is the quintessential jock: He plays basketball nearly all the time, and when he isn't playing, he's thinking about it. Russell, more concerned with academics, serves as leader of his school's Masters of the Mind team, a group that competes against other schools to solve tough mental puzzles. He's generally regarded as physically inept. Russell and Owen don't understand each other's worlds, but previously, it hardly seemed to matter. Then the new coach asks Russell to try out for the team because he's tall, and with that height comes a surprisingly satisfying skill in blocking shots. Owen, no longer the sole star athlete in his family, becomes increasingly jealous as his father, who once more or less ignored Russell, begins to focus on both sons. Chapters alternate between the brothers’ first-person accounts, providing readers with a nice look at their diametrically opposed thinking. Russell's chapters are amusing, as he discovers unexpected talents and abilities. Owen comes across as much less attractive; readers may be surprised by the level of his anger and his childish behavior.
Despite the differing perspectives, though, it’s never more than a superficial exploration of the differences between brothers, enlivened by welcome infusions of basketball. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 19, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-59990-915-8
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
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