by Hillrey A Dufner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 4, 2013
An uplifting story of perseverance and the immigrant experience.
An educator recounts the inspiring story of a student who had the drive and determination to overcome one challenge after another.
Dufner (Vengeance Duty, 2009) tells the story of motivated student Gaby, a young girl he met when she was a student in his Weslaco, Texas, school district. The book begins with Gaby’s birth and childhood in the Mexican village of Ejido Buena Vista. Her mother, right before giving birth, “had a primal urge to move about that she could not deny, but still she did not wish to awaken her husband.” Gaby was a dedicated student, always coming in first in her class in the village school, but when her family immigrated to the United States, unofficial school district policy placed her in a lower grade and then kept her there for another year because she wasn’t fluent in English. Dufner makes no attempt to conceal his distaste for the practice: “That the policy was insulting and demeaning to recent immigrants was well understood by the man who made the rule, but he, and consequently the district, would not consider that his policy might be the cause of those students giving up on school.” After making rapid progress, Gaby decided to advance from sixth grade to ninth grade, where she belonged, by meeting the requirements for both seventh and eighth grade during the summer. Her teachers were reluctant to endorse her plan but impressed by her determination, so they introduced her to Dufner, a district administrator. Dufner, too, was surprised by Gaby’s willingness to work hard, but when she was severely injured in a car accident, he expected that she wouldn’t be able to finish the work. When Gaby announced that the partial paralysis wasn’t going to prevent her from starting high school in the fall, Dufner, amazed, provided the help this indefatigable youngster needed to achieve her goal. The sometimes unpolished prose does little to mute the impact of Gaby’s inspiring story, which is told with heartfelt sincerity that keeps the student, rather than the teacher, as its heart.
An uplifting story of perseverance and the immigrant experience.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2013
ISBN: 978-1482585193
Page Count: 170
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Dec. 30, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Marti Dumas illustrated by Stephanie Parcus ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 11, 2017
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
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A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Marti Dumas
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by Marti Dumas
by Paul Langan Ben Alirez ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2004
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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