A book that manages to outpace its protagonist in mediocrity—skip it.
A 13-year-old budding artist struggles to join a popular clique when sudden superpowers derail her plans.
Veronica McGowan, a mixed race (black/white), hopelessly average seventh-grader, wants nothing more than to be included in the most popular group in her middle school: the “Ests.” With such slots as “Richest,” “Smartest,” and “Funniest” already taken, Veri hopes to join as the “Artiest” by volunteering to decorate the spring formal; that is, if she can outmaneuver her archrival and previous holder of the title and not get distracted by the reappearance of her crush. Veri’s plans to impress are somewhat less than successful when her already awkward life is suddenly complicated by an onslaught of superpowers—a generous label for embarrassing, emotion-specific phenomena such as angrily breathing fire, transforming into stone during guided meditation, or turning an envious shade of green. Veri tries to get her emotions under control before their new physical manifestations ruin her chances at popularity and humiliate her for life. While Nuhfer has delivered a new spin on the classic “girl almost loses herself (and best friend) in attempts to be popular” narrative, heavy-handed contrivances yield a stiff, inorganic plot and a listlike sequence of conflicts—even deceptive parents and conspiracy theorist government agents fail to raise the stakes for readers. Blocker’s occasional pencil sketches add some visual humor but do not elevate the whole.
A book that manages to outpace its protagonist in mediocrity—skip it. (Fantasy. 10-13)Pub Date: Jan. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-13860-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Imprint
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
Problem-solving through perseverance and friendship is the real win in this deeply smart and inspiring story.
Leaving Brooklyn behind, Black math-whiz and puzzle lover Bree starts a new life in Florida, where she’ll be tossed into the deep end in more ways than one. Keeping her head above water may be the trickiest puzzle yet.
While her dad is busy working and training in IT, Bree struggles at first to settle into Enith Brigitha Middle School, largely due to the school’s preoccupation with swimming—from the accomplishments of its namesake, a Black Olympian from Curaçao, to its near victory at the state swimming championships. But Bree can’t swim. To illustrate her anxiety around this fact, the graphic novel’s bright colors give way to gray thought bubbles with thick, darkened outlines expressing Bree’s deepest fears and doubts. This poignant visual crowds some panels just as anxious feelings can crowd the thoughts of otherwise star students like Bree. Ultimately, learning to swim turns out to be easy enough with the help of a kind older neighbor—a Black woman with a competitive swimming past of her own as well as a rich and bittersweet understanding of Black Americans’ relationship with swimming—who explains to Bree how racist obstacles of the past can become collective anxiety in the present. To her surprise, Bree, with her newfound water skills, eventually finds herself on the school’s swim team, navigating competition, her anxiety, and new, meaningful relationships.
Problem-solving through perseverance and friendship is the real win in this deeply smart and inspiring story. (Graphic fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: May 17, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-305677-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
The novel’s dryness is mitigated in part by its exploration of immigrant identity, xenophobia, and hate crimes.
Seventh graders Karina Chopra and Chris Daniels live in Houston, Texas, and although they are next-door neighbors, they have different interests and their paths rarely cross.
In fact, Karina, whose family is Indian, doesn’t want to be friends with Chris, whose family is white, because the boys he hangs out with are mean to her. Things change when Karina’s immigrant paternal grandfather, Papa, moves in with Karina’s family. Papa begins tutoring Chris in math, and, as a result, Chris and Karina begin spending time with each other. Karina even comes to realize that Chris is not at all like the rest of his friends and that she should give him a second chance. One day, when Karina, Papa, and Chris are walking home from school, something terrible happens: They are assaulted by a stranger who calls Papa a Muslim terrorist, and he is badly injured. The children find themselves wanting to speak out for Papa and for other first-generation Americans like him. Narrated by Karina and Chris in alternate chapters, Bajaj’s novel gives readers varied and valuable perspectives of what it means to be first- and third-generation Indian Americans in an increasingly diverse nation. Unfortunately, however, Bajaj’s characters are quite bland, and the present-tense narrative voices of the preteen protagonists lack both distinction and authenticity.
The novel’s dryness is mitigated in part by its exploration of immigrant identity, xenophobia, and hate crimes. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-51724-5
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: May 25, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
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