Genuinely funny, convincing, and in tune with its audience.
Buddy, Bea, and their second grade classmates find a perfect class name.
By Friday of the first week of school, Buddy is feeling confident, but he’s still getting used to his exuberant classmate Bea and his new teacher, Ms. Maple. Ms. Maple has done something intriguingly unexpected, though, removing the classroom books from their baskets and scattering them around the room. Ms. Maple asks the class to sort them—a challenging activity for enthusiastic, recently fledged readers. The second graders step up with interest and determination, each taking charge of a category and a labeled basket. Bea has her own strong ideas. She insists that books that don’t rhyme can’t go in the poetry basket and that it would be fine to have a basket just for the books she personally wants to read. Questions arise: Is a graphic novel with an African American character supposed to go in Amber’s African American basket or in Omar’s graphic novel basket? Lunchtime brings some interesting intel: The other second grade class is choosing a class name! This information galvanizes Ms. Maple’s class, resulting in a lively exercise in idea sharing, cooperation, and compromise. Carr persuasively conveys the sparkle, earnest enthusiasm, and occasional boisterous silliness of second graders, and these funny school moments feel genuine. Buddy is Asian, Bea is light-skinned, and Ms. Maple is of Filipino descent; other children and teachers are depicted as racially diverse in the energetic cartoon art.
Genuinely funny, convincing, and in tune with its audience. (Chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781682635353
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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