Another fun, emotionally resonant read for the Wimpy Kid set and beyond. (Fiction. 9-14)
In this satisfying stand-alone companion to My Life as a Book (2010), 12-year-old Derek Fallon thinks landing a job as stuntboy for megastar Tanya Billings must be as good as it gets.
After all, the infamously reluctant reader had finally found his niche! The plot, however, thickens: “This morning I was on a movie set doing stunts, talking to a movie star. By the end of the day, my best friend’s making fun of me, I have a homework tutor, and my mother’s going to cut open my adopted monkey to retrieve my horse. How do these things happen?” As Derek’s well-meaning parents tirelessly engage in what sound like rehearsed “teacher moments,” their son realistically vacillates between self-doubt and boyish bravado—all in a dry, funny first-person voice. Derek’s Yoda-like parkour/stunt coach Tony also has many life lessons for the stuntboy, such as “Parkour is about making your way around obstacles.” The family’s foster capuchin monkey Frank provides a hairy subplot, as does Derek’s nagging worry about losing his best friend Matt, suddenly jealous about Derek’s newfound fame. The generous margins are filled with Derek’s often quite clever stick-figure cartoons illustrating vocabulary words such as “flabbergasted” and “camouflage”—all rendered by the author’s teenage son.
Another fun, emotionally resonant read for the Wimpy Kid set and beyond. (Fiction. 9-14)Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8904-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A poignant and achingly beautiful narrative shedding light on the price of a violent sport.
An African American preteen finds his world upended when his father, a retired professional football player, displays symptoms of traumatic brain injury.
Twelve-year-old Zachariah “ZJ” Johnson Jr. loves his dad but wonders who he would be if his dad was not a famous athlete. Although his dad is in the spotlight, he is full of love and attention for ZJ and his friends. And fortunately, ZJ has three friends who see him and not his father’s shadow. “Zachariah 44” was a fearless player who suffered many concussions during his playing career. The changes in his father begin slowly and intermittently. Soon the headaches and memory lapses grow increasingly frequent and scary for ZJ and his mom, since the doctors do not seem to have any answers. As his dad slips further away, ZJ’s memories of better times grow closer than ever. Using spare and lyrical language for ZJ’s present-tense narration, which moves back and forth through time, Woodson skillfully portrays the confusion, fear, and sadness when a family member suffers from brain injury and the personality changes it brings. Readers see Zachariah Sr. through ZJ’s eyes and agonize with him as the strong, vibrant athlete begins to fade. The well-rounded secondary characters complete a mosaic of a loving African American family and their community of friends. The tale is set in the early 2000s, as awareness of chronic traumatic encephalopathy and its catastrophic consequences was beginning to emerge.
A poignant and achingly beautiful narrative shedding light on the price of a violent sport. (author's note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-399-54543-6
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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