A gripping scary story weaving in the history of segregation.
While spending a week with their grandparents, cousins are haunted by a ghost.
Celeste did poorly in her last swimming lesson, so she is dreading the summer trip to her grandparents’ lake house. Mom insists that Grandad Jim can teach Celeste how to swim—loving the water and learning how to swim are very important to their Black family—but this doesn’t assuage her fear, and she has nightmares about falling into a body of water. As Celeste starts to settle in, strange things begin happening—a flickering light, the sound of footsteps in the attic at night, and strange events that family members attribute to Celeste even when she insists it wasn’t her. And then Celeste sees someone in the bathroom mirror—a girl who looks exactly like her. Celeste confronts her grandparents with her suspicion that the house is haunted, and Grandma Judy reveals that her sister, Ellie, whom Celeste uncannily resembles, drowned in the lake after being barred from Whites-only lessons at the local swimming pool. Although Grandma Judy insists that Ellie would never hurt any of them, the cousins are not convinced and race to discover the truth before someone really gets hurt. The pacing is strong, and Celeste is a character who will resonate with readers. Brown expertly reminds readers that the truth is scarier than fiction especially when it comes to historical truths and lived realities whose impacts echo through the generations.
A gripping scary story weaving in the history of segregation. (Paranormal. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-67888-8
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Oozing with fun.
The new kid in town finds himself caught up in a slime-selling battle.
Twelve-year-old Alex Manalo is passionate about two things: slime and business. So when he and his dad (his mother has died) move from Silicon Valley to Sacramento to take over his grandparents’ struggling Filipino market, he is excited that they’ll have their own business. Being the new kid isn’t easy, and while Alex isn’t sporty or tall like the popular kids at his old school, he soon discovers that his new middle school is big on slime. Alex makes all kinds of slime with different ingredients, textures, and smells, garnering the attention of his classmates. A new friend convinces him to sell his slime, but that spurs a slime war with the girl who holds the slime monopoly at school. It isn’t going to be easy, especially when his dad thinks slime is a waste of time and that Alex should be playing soccer. With his hands in many different activities, Alex fights to win sticky battles with his family, new friends, and himself. Respicio has written an exciting, fast-paced story of friendship, family, and community. Throughout the book, Alex often struggles to make his opinions heard, but he eventually finds his voice and understands what it really means to be a winner. Alex and his family are Filipino; there is diversity in the supporting cast. The book includes different slime recipes.
Oozing with fun. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30267-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random
Review Posted Online: July 7, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
With Ivan’s movie out this year from Disney, expect great interest—it will be richly rewarded.
Tiny, sassy Bob the dog, friend of The One and Only Ivan(2012), returns to tell his tale.
Wisecracking Bob, who is a little bit Chihuahua among other things, now lives with his girl, Julia, and her parents. Happily, her father works at Wildworld Zoological Park and Sanctuary, the zoo where Bob’s two best friends, Ivan the gorilla and Ruby the elephant, live, so Bob gets to visit and catch up with them regularly. Due to an early betrayal, Bob doesn’t trust humans (most humans are good only for their thumbs); he fears he’s going soft living with Julia, and he’s certain he is a Bad Dog—as in “not a good representative of my species.” On a visit to the zoo with a storm threatening, Bob accidentally falls into the gorilla enclosure just as a tornado strikes. So that’s what it’s like to fly. In the storm’s aftermath, Bob proves to everyone (and finally himself) that there is a big heart in that tiny chest…and a brave one too. With this companion, Applegate picks up where her Newbery Medal winner left off, and fans will be overjoyed to ride along in the head of lovable, self-deprecating Bob on his storm-tossed adventure. His wry doggy observations and attitude are pitch perfect (augmented by the canine glossary and Castelao’s picture dictionary of dog postures found in the frontmatter). Gorilla Ivan described Julia as having straight, black hair in the previous title, and Castelao's illustrations in that volume showed her as pale-skinned. (Finished art not available for review.)
With Ivan’s movie out this year from Disney, expect great interest—it will be richly rewarded. (afterword) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299131-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
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