by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein ; illustrated by Joe Sutphin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 12, 2016
With smart witticisms to launch each quick-paced chapter, Isaiah is truly a mouse that roars.
Prolific Patterson and frequent collaborator Grabenstein offer this charming tale of Isaiah, a blue (yes—bright blue!) mouse, and his effort to break his family out of a very bad place.
Isaiah and his 96 siblings have been raised in a lab since birth, so they don’t really know what the outside world is like. Isaiah’s big brother Benji was the one to come up with a plan to break them all out…but only Isaiah is fortunate enough to make it to freedom. Alone in a huge and unfamiliar world filled with unexpected pleasures and dangers, Isaiah is lucky to find Mikayla, a beautiful but ordinary mouse with an extraordinary talent: she sings! Mikayla brings Isaiah back to her family (appropriately called a “mischief” in mouse vernacular), who formally adopts him. But Isaiah misses his original family, and with the help of his new relatives and a human friend or two, he mounts a daring rescue to save his siblings. Narrator Isaiah is a well-read mouse, and, without being pedantic about it, he shows off his vocabulary at every opportunity; his literacy comes in handy more than once, demonstrating its practicality as well. Sutphin provides black-and-white spot illustrations that recall the great mouse protagonists of the mid-20th century.
With smart witticisms to launch each quick-paced chapter, Isaiah is truly a mouse that roars. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Dec. 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-34956-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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by Raina Telgemeier ; illustrated by Raina Telgemeier ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 13, 2016
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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by Christina Li ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 12, 2021
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
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