by Jennifer L. Holm ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 30, 2016
Filled with humor, heart, and warmth; readers can only hope to hear more about the Curry clan.
A prequel to a beloved novel reveals more about a boy who’s full of mischief, heart, and conscience.
Beans Curry, first cousin of the title character in Holm’s Newbery Honor book Turtle in Paradise (2010), gets his own wonderful story, also set in Key West during the Great Depression. While Beans’ tongue here is not quite as acerbic as in the earlier book—he’s still plenty quick with the gibes, though—he’s got smarts, a loyal gang, marble skills, an enterprising head for business, a love for movies, and a way with babies (don’t forget the secret diaper-rash formula). A crooked con man and a New Dealer sent from Washington to refurbish the town to attract tourism galvanize Beans into actions, though of different kinds. In the first instance, criminal doings earning him big money leave Beans heartsick and guilt-ridden; in the other, he atones by getting caught up in beautification zeal. In a charming touch, Holm ends this tale with a snippet of an opening scene in Turtle, melding the two novels seamlessly. Holm effortlessly evokes time and place (two very prominent writers who actually spent time in Key West in the ’30s are named) and develops characters with loads of heart and grit. Hilarity and pathos ensue with friends and family, too. Only a subplot involving Beans and a reclusive adult film enthusiast afflicted with leprosy feels tacked on. Characters are white, appropriate to the demographics of the time.
Filled with humor, heart, and warmth; readers can only hope to hear more about the Curry clan. (author’s note with photographs, list of 1930s child actors, popular sayings, gang rules, and websites) (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-553-51036-2
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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by Lois Lowry ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1989
A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit...
The author of the Anastasia books as well as more serious fiction (Rabble Starkey, 1987) offers her first historical fiction—a story about the escape of the Jews from Denmark in 1943.
Five years younger than Lisa in Carol Matas' Lisa's War (1989), Annemarie Johansen has, at 10, known three years of Nazi occupation. Though ever cautious and fearful of the ubiquitous soldiers, she is largely unaware of the extent of the danger around her; the Resistance kept even its participants safer by telling them as little as possible, and Annemarie has never been told that her older sister Lise died in its service. When the Germans plan to round up the Jews, the Johansens take in Annemarie's friend, Ellen Rosen, and pretend she is their daughter; later, they travel to Uncle Hendrik's house on the coast, where the Rosens and other Jews are transported by fishing boat to Sweden. Apart from Lise's offstage death, there is little violence here; like Annemarie, the reader is protected from the full implications of events—but will be caught up in the suspense and menace of several encounters with soldiers and in Annemarie's courageous run as courier on the night of the escape. The book concludes with the Jews' return, after the war, to homes well kept for them by their neighbors.
A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit of riding alone in Copenhagen, but for their Jews. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: April 1, 1989
ISBN: 0547577095
Page Count: 156
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1989
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by Pablo Cartaya ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 6, 2019
A pitch-perfect middle-grade novel that insightfully explores timely topics with authenticity and warmth.
A nuanced novel about a neurodiverse preteen’s political and social awakening by a Pura Belpré Honor–winning author.
Sixth grader Emilia Rosa Torres sometimes has a hard time keeping up with schoolwork and concentrating on one thing at a time, but her software-developer mother and superinvolved abuelita help her keep on task. Days before her father’s return to their Atlanta suburb from his most recent deployment, her mother goes on a business trip, leaving the middle schooler to juggle his mood swings, her friend troubles, and her looming assignments all on her own. When a social studies project opens her eyes to injustices past and present, Emilia begins to find her voice and use it to make an impact on her community. Writing with sensitivity and respectful complexity, Cartaya tackles weighty issues, such as immigration, PTSD, and microaggressions, through the lens of a budding tinkerer and activist who has ADHD. The members of this Cuban American family don’t all practice the same religion, with Emilia’s Catholic grandmother faithfully attending Mass multiple times a week and the protagonist’s mother celebrating her culture’s Yoruba roots with Santería. Conversations on race and gender crop up through the narrative as Emilia’s grandmother likes to emphasize her family’s European heritage—Emilia can pass as white, with her fair complexion, light eyes and auburn hair. All of these larger issues are effortlessly woven in with skill and humor, as is the Spanish her family easily mixes with English.
A pitch-perfect middle-grade novel that insightfully explores timely topics with authenticity and warmth. (author’s note) (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-451-47972-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Kokila
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
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