Although books about American-born Muslim children are relatively uncommon, this predictable tale fails to fill the void.
In this message-driven tale, a brother and sister join forces to try to save their grandmother’s beloved peach tree from an angry neighbor.
Ten-year-old Hude and his 9-year-old sister, Amani, are spending part of their summer vacation with their grandmother in her small Maryland town. After being harassed on the train by three aggressive boys, they aren’t thrilled to find that the same bullying children live in their grandmother’s neighborhood and that two of them will be competing against Hude in an archery tournament. When a new—and inexplicably angry—neighbor discovers that Grandma Hana’s peach tree is actually planted in his yard, he decides to have it cut down to accommodate a new fence. While Hana counsels acceptance, the children nonetheless develop a plan to protect the tree, leading to a mildly exciting climax. Dialogue that rarely rings true, cardboard characters and often awkward prose—“Mr. Fenby was like his truck—dependable, straightforward, loyal and sentimental”—all serve to diminish the appeal of this effort. Additionally, Mair (The Perfect Gift, 2010) uses Grandma to preach extensively on Islam rather than trust her exemplary character to reveal the important qualities of her faith.
Although books about American-born Muslim children are relatively uncommon, this predictable tale fails to fill the void. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-84774-057-1
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Kube Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2013
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
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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