A tender tale of community, connection, and family.
Ghostly Ana worries about her elderly sister Lucy’s isolation and resolves to find her a companion.
Lucy’s life has grown progressively smaller as she’s aged. She doesn’t go out much anymore, and she has no one with whom to share life’s little pleasures: “a slice of banana cake” or a “movie…before dinner.” Her sister, Ana, a floating, translucent perpetual youngster, is concerned. Lucy needs a friend. Though no adult can see Ana (including Lucy), a child named Leah can, and Ana facilitates a get-together between elder and youth. With ghostly encouragement, Lucy and Leah bond over card games and cake. As they reminisce over elegantly etched photos of Ana and Lucy’s 1940s childhood, Ana knows they’ll make a perfect pair. Their story is sweetly extended with endpapers that become a new photo album showcasing Lucy’s expanding social circle. This tale might have been somber—one of the characters is a dead child, and Molineaux relies on a dark, tawny palette—but Ana’s determination to help her sister feels so authentic that light and optimism shine through. Told in graphic novel–style panels, the sequences are extremely easy to follow, and the agreeable third-person narrative flows well alongside the speech bubbles. Vintage-style sepia drawings made from scratchy charcoal lines and digital coloring feel appropriately timeless. A handwritten typeset adds a personal touch but might hinder younger readers. Most human characters have brown skin; Leah reads Black.
A tender tale of community, connection, and family. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781646145690
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
Extraordinary introductory terror, beautiful to the eye and sure to delight younger horror enthusiasts.
What terrors lurk within your mouth? Jasper Rabbit knows.
“You have stumbled your way into the unknown.” The young bunny introduced in Reynolds and Brown’s Caldecott Honor–winning picture book, Creepy Carrots (2012), takes up Rod Serling’s mantle, and the fit is perfect. Mimicking an episode of The Twilight Zone, the book follows Charlie Marmot, an average kid with a penchant for the strange and unusual. He’s pleased when his tonsils become infected; maybe once they’re out he can take them to school for show and tell! That’s when bizarre things start to happen: Noises in the night. Slimy trails on his bedroom floor. And when Charlie goes in for his surgery, he’s told that the tonsils have disappeared from his throat; clearly something sinister is afoot. Those not yet ready for Goosebumps levels of horror will find this a welcome starter pack. Reynolds has perfected the tension he employed in his Creepy Tales! series, and partner in crime Brown imbues each illustration with both humor and a delicate undercurrent of dark foreshadowing. While the fleshy pink tonsils—the sole spot of color in this black-and-white world—aren’t outrageously gross, there’s something distinctly disgusting about them. And though the book stars cute, furry woodland creatures, the spooky surprise ending is 100% otherworldly—a marvelous moment of twisted logic.
Extraordinary introductory terror, beautiful to the eye and sure to delight younger horror enthusiasts. (Early chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781665961080
Page Count: 88
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
PERSPECTIVES
A strong second outing for Dillard and J.D.
Breakout kid barber J.D. embraces a summer of opportunity.
Readers met J.D. Jones just as he took his hometown of Meridian, Mississippi, by storm, winning himself community acclaim and a chair at the revered Hart and Sons barbershop in series opener J.D. and the Great Barber Battle(2021). What’s next for the haircut prodigy? School’s just getting out, and there’s so much life happening outside—if only one can escape home learning with the grandparents. J.D.’s sister, Vanessa, brings along multitalented mutual friend Jessyka to share an ambitious challenge: “Let’s start a YouTube channel!” Can they get millions of views and wow the whole world? They are already amazing at haircuts and hairstyles—all they need is to learn how to make a great YouTube video. The story models strategies for scripting short videos reflecting the templates of viral YouTube hair tutorials, inviting readers to not only see the journey of the characters, but maybe also practice these skills at home. This book is bound to educate all about some of the most storied and cherished traditions within the Black community. Bringing in Vanessa is a great touch to extend the series across gender, and hopefully she’ll get a chance to lead her own adventures. This book blends skill-building, entrepreneurship, and strong family values to give young Black children visions of what’s possible when they follow their passions and embrace their community.
A strong second outing for Dillard and J.D. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-11155-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Kokila
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 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.
