This one’s for dog lovers
A shy transplant from Michigan to California finds her footing when her neighbor’s pit bull needs training.
Hannah, a white girl with a facial birthmark, is miserable in California. Her parents, overwhelmed with new jobs and Hannah’s younger siblings, never have time for her anymore. Hannah misses her Michigan friends, too. How can she possibly make new friends when she’s so embarrassed about her birthmark and the California kids are all spending this summer before sixth grade surfing? It turns out there’s something to love in California after all, though: her elderly neighbor’s rescue pit bull puppy, Poppy. Hannah eagerly offers to take on Poppy’s training, which is how she learns that many people prejudge pit bulls unfairly as violent; the analogies between judgments of Poppy for her pit-bull build and Hannah for her birthmark are strained but mostly unobtrusive. Through the process of training Poppy, Hannah slowly gains faith in herself, if only because her lack of confidence means the dog can’t learn. She makes friends, learns to surf (with Poppy!), and loses her crushing self-loathing. All of her forward movement—and her personal setbacks—are framed in the little victories and crises of Poppy’s education. The timespan of dog training is compressed down to simplified weeks, but the principles are solid. Brave, another in this dog-oriented series, publishes simultaneously, bringing together a canine hurricane survivor and a white boy whose father is deployed in the Middle East.
This one’s for dog lovers . (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-10869-6
Page Count: 272
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading.
When Franklin School principal Mr. Boone announces a pet-show fundraiser, white third-grader Cody—whose lack of skill and interest in academics is matched by keen enthusiasm for and knowledge of animals—discovers his time to shine.
As with other books in this series, the children and adults are believable and well-rounded. Even the dialogue is natural—no small feat for a text easily accessible to intermediate readers. Character growth occurs, organically and believably. Students occasionally, humorously, show annoyance with teachers: “He made mad squinty eyes at Mrs. Molina, which fortunately she didn’t see.” Readers will be kept entertained by Cody’s various problems and the eventual solutions. His problems include needing to raise $10 to enter one of his nine pets in the show (he really wants to enter all of them), his troublesome dog Angus—“a dog who ate homework—actually, who ate everything and then threw up afterward”—struggles with homework, and grappling with his best friend’s apparently uncaring behavior toward a squirrel. Serious values and issues are explored with a light touch. The cheery pencil illustrations show the school’s racially diverse population as well as the memorable image of Mr. Boone wearing an elephant costume. A minor oddity: why does a child so immersed in animal facts call his male chicken a rooster but his female chickens chickens?
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30223-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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