Sadness is turned to hope and tragedy is turned to strength in this sensitive treatment.
A young Lebanese boy experiences loss after a war in a story based on the 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli conflict.
Luli lives in a small town in Lebanon. His favorite activity is to play with his cats: Lucy the Fat, Lucy the Skinny, and Lucy Lucy. During a summer trip to visit family in Beirut, Luli must leave the three Lucys behind, but it’s only for a weekend. However, on the way home from the bustling city—back to his Lucys—his family hears a scream in the sky. His father immediately turns the car around, and they huddle together in a Beirut basement every evening for days, wondering if the bombs will reach that city next. After a month of fighting, a cease-fire is declared. Luli’s family rushes home to find much destruction to their town, and hardest on Luli, only two of the three Lucys appear when he calls. Lebanese-American Charara deftly maneuvers through a child’s view of war. Buildings and lives are lost; Luli knows war is unspeakably powerful, but the mountain and sea are still there. They anchor his peace. Iranian-American Kahn’s watercolor palette changes from warm oranges to cool blues and grays, depending on the mood. But even in the middle of conflict and while surveying the aftermath, the glowing warmth of love consistently surrounds the family. An author’s note adds context to what the Lebanese call the July War.
Sadness is turned to hope and tragedy is turned to strength in this sensitive treatment. (Picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-60060-998-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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