Strip the cannibalism, the clumsy, plot-driven characterization and the dopey names, and this could be quite a sweet story
A debut that reads like an early draft of a successful story of mild middle school drama.
Ferrell Savage has been friends for years with neighbor Mary Vittles, but now that they are in middle school, he feels the relationship changing. Sweet, loyal Ferrell doesn’t mind Mary’s tendency to throw around SAT words or her ferocious competitiveness. That Mary’s entry in the Big Sled Race loses to a newcomer’s is bad enough, but that Ferrell’s spectacular wipeout garners him the most attention of all strains things further. That would be a perfectly fine premise for a book, but unfortunately, it’s not the premise for this book. No, this book’s premise is that Ferrell’s great-great-uncle was an infamous (real-life) cannibal and Mary’s ancestor his victim (note their names—get it? Get it?).That’s his secret, but he doesn’t know it yet. (Readers do, thanks to the cover, and they have to endure a lot of obvious misdirection before Ferrell learns.) Complicating matters is the sled-racing newcomer, even more competitive than Mary, who threatens to air their terrible secret if they don’t agree to a rematch so winning will focus all attention on him. How does he know about Ferrell’s relative? Why does he care so much about it? Readers never learn. Tendentiously cute names (there’s also Bruce Littledood, Ms. Goodkind, Ms. Bland, Mr. Comfy and so on) distract more than they amuse.
Strip the cannibalism, the clumsy, plot-driven characterization and the dopey names, and this could be quite a sweet story . (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-6017-1
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2013
A real gem.
A 10-year old girl learns to adjust to a strange town, makes some fascinating friends, and fills the empty space in her heart thanks to a big old stray dog in this lyrical, moving, and enchanting book by a fresh new voice.
India Opal’s mama left when she was only three, and her father, “the preacher,” is absorbed in his own loss and in the work of his new ministry at the Open-Arms Baptist Church of Naomi [Florida]. Enter Winn-Dixie, a dog who “looked like a big piece of old brown carpet that had been left out in the rain.” But, this dog had a grin “so big that it made him sneeze.” And, as Opal says, “It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor.” Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal meets Miss Franny Block, an elderly lady whose papa built her a library of her own when she was just a little girl and she’s been the librarian ever since. Then, there’s nearly blind Gloria Dump, who hangs the empty bottle wreckage of her past from the mistake tree in her back yard. And, Otis, oh yes, Otis, whose music charms the gerbils, rabbits, snakes and lizards he’s let out of their cages in the pet store. Brush strokes of magical realism elevate this beyond a simple story of friendship to a well-crafted tale of community and fellowship, of sweetness, sorrow and hope. And, it’s funny, too.
A real gem. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0776-2
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
SEEN & HEARD
Entrancing and uplifting.
A small dog, the elderly woman who owns him, and a homeless girl come together to create a tale of serendipity.
Piper, almost 12, her parents, and her younger brother are at the bottom of a long slide toward homelessness. Finally in a family shelter, Piper finds that her newfound safety gives her the opportunity to reach out to someone who needs help even more. Jewel, mentally ill, lives in the park with her dog, Baby. Unwilling to leave her pet, and forbidden to enter the shelter with him, she struggles with the winter weather. Ree, also homeless and with a large dog, helps when she can, but after Jewel gets sick and is hospitalized, Baby’s taken to the animal shelter, and Ree can’t manage the complex issues alone. It’s Piper, using her best investigative skills, who figures out Jewel’s backstory. Still, she needs all the help of the shelter Firefly Girls troop that she joins to achieve her accomplishment: to raise enough money to provide Jewel and Baby with a secure, hopeful future and, maybe, with their kindness, to inspire a happier story for Ree. Told in the authentic alternating voices of loving child and loyal dog, this tale could easily slump into a syrupy melodrama, but Pyron lets her well-drawn characters earn their believable happy ending, step by challenging step, by reaching out and working together. Piper, her family, and Jewel present white; Pyron uses hair and naming convention, respectively, to cue Ree as black and Piper’s friend Gabriela as Latinx.
Entrancing and uplifting. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-283922-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
