A surefire win of a read expressly made for young Black boys to cherish.
Meridian, Mississippi, third grader J.D. has a passion for the arts and a dream of rising beyond the embarrassment of a troubled haircut.
For many Black boys, hairline awareness hits hard in those preteen years, and the jeers and dozens of the schoolyard start to pull at kids who can’t show up as the best versions of themselves. This is the predicament in which young J.D. finds himself. He recognizes the family’s financial challenges, as his mother strives to make do with the support of his grandparents. She’s in school again, and the rare quality time that they get comes when she cuts his hair. But no longer can J.D. get past the looks and chuckles his shaky line attracts, so he takes his mama’s clippers into his own hands and discovers he has a true gift with them. He even turns this art into a successful business, much like the real-life story of the author, a master barber. However, in J.D.’s world, Henry Jr., proprietor of Meridian’s official barbershop, isn’t just going to let a supremely talented kid come and take away his clientele. What will happen when these two barbers battle it out? Everything about this story feels like a beloved barbershop tall tale: quite heroic, maybe a bit unbelievable, yet full of intrigue and entertaining as all get out. This is authentic storytelling, supported by Roberts’ vigorous cartoons—full of styles that are straight fire.
A surefire win of a read expressly made for young Black boys to cherish. (Fiction. 6-10)Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-11152-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Kokila
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
A memorable story of kindness, courage and wonder.
After being home-schooled for years, Auggie Pullman is about to start fifth grade, but he’s worried: How will he fit into middle school life when he looks so different from everyone else?
Auggie has had 27 surgeries to correct facial anomalies he was born with, but he still has a face that has earned him such cruel nicknames as Freak, Freddy Krueger, Gross-out and Lizard face. Though “his features look like they’ve been melted, like the drippings on a candle” and he’s used to people averting their eyes when they see him, he’s an engaging boy who feels pretty ordinary inside. He’s smart, funny, kind and brave, but his father says that having Auggie attend Beecher Prep would be like sending “a lamb to the slaughter.” Palacio divides the novel into eight parts, interspersing Auggie’s first-person narrative with the voices of family members and classmates, wisely expanding the story beyond Auggie’s viewpoint and demonstrating that Auggie’s arrival at school doesn’t test only him, it affects everyone in the community. Auggie may be finding his place in the world, but that world must find a way to make room for him, too.
A memorable story of kindness, courage and wonder. (Fiction. 8-14)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-375-86902-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2011
PROFILES
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