The life-and-death themes are thought-provoking, but readers may love the book even more for its many digressions.
Baseball, both minor league and Little League, forms the throughline for this exploration of grief.
Pitcher Quinnen Donnelly is reluctant to go back to playing baseball because she’s still mourning her sister, Haley, who died nine months ago; her family’s decision to board a player for the local minor league team, the Bandits, may provide welcome distraction. The book shifts back and forth in time. Some chapters take place the summer before the death, and some are set in the present. Haley is such an appealing character that readers may mourn her, too. But the unusual structure creates an odd effect: the story seems to be counting down, over the length of the book, to Haley’s death. This generates suspense, but during the slower passages, readers may wonder, guiltily, how soon it’ll happen. They might be more engaged by other characters, like Quinnen’s friend Hector, a Bandits player from the Dominican Republic, who’s going through a slump. There’s also Brandon, the extremely blond, extremely tan, extremely arrogant player who stays with the Donnellys. Their plotlines are less predictable than the somber main story. Bishop is often ambiguous about race, though Hector is described as having “dark brown skin”; the cover illustration reveals Quinnen to be white.
The life-and-death themes are thought-provoking, but readers may love the book even more for its many digressions. (baseball glossary) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: June 28, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93871-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sympathetic and amusing account of a young anxiety sufferer navigating life changes.
While Penny adjusts to her noisy newborn siblings, she tries to figure out a complicated treasure map and even more complicated friendships and feelings.
Now that the twins are home from the hospital, Penny and little brother Juice Box are struggling to adjust; it’s tough with all the crying, plus a new babysitter. And Penny and Juice Box have to help choose names for the babies, and they can’t agree. Penny’s also trying to be OK with the fact that bestie Maria is studying for the spelling bee with mutual friend Chloe, though it makes her feel inadequate. The discovery of a bunch of unidentified keys helps Penny and her friends open the locked box they’d found in the attic, and the treasure map inside leads them to the most terrifying house in the neighborhood, where a witch supposedly lives. Amid all this, a school project forces Penny to consider what her own good qualities are. Though ex-friend Riley is still around to (mostly) antagonize Penny, Mrs. Hines, the Feelings Teacher, keeps helping her navigate all the upheaval. This third series entry offers yet more humor and genuine positivity along with an honest portrayal of how anxiety can affect young people. The third volume moves more quickly than the previous two, yet it maintains the wit and warmth (greatly supported by the charming black-and-white cartoon illustrations) that readers have come to expect from Penny’s escapades.
A sympathetic and amusing account of a young anxiety sufferer navigating life changes. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780593616833
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
An enthralling fantasy adventure full of bravery, love, and humor.
A Black girl embarks on an unprecedented journey to tap deeper into her magic.
Ella Durand is an 11-year-old from New Orleans, where she lives with her conjure-politician father, notorious Conjuror mother, grandmother, and little sister, Winnie. Ella makes history as the first Conjuror to be accepted into the Arcanum Training Institute, where she can learn to become a Marveller. Ella is eager to discover her marvel and to find out more about a type of magic so different from what she has grown up with, but integrating into this new school turns out to be harder than she hoped. Fortunately, she makes new friends, Jason and Brigit, who help her better navigate life at the school. After Ella’s family becomes embroiled in controversy due to allegations of their connection to an infamous escaped criminal and her teacher and mentor, Masterji Thakur, goes missing, she needs her friends’ help to help set things right. Clayton does a wonderful job with skillful worldbuilding that is bolstered by vivid, detailed descriptions and smart, witty prose, and readers will be swept up in the magic. The novel celebrates the diverse peoples and customs that make up Ella’s world. Parallels between the world of the Marvellers and real-world history around discrimination, privilege, marginalization, and stereotyping are clear without being heavy-handed. A charming cast and captivating storylines make this a breath of fresh air.
An enthralling fantasy adventure full of bravery, love, and humor. (map) (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: May 3, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-17494-9
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
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