Engaging and believably realistic, effectively combining both harrowing challenges and the support of caring...
Starting middle school is especially challenging for white Emily, who finds her BFF, Hazel, drifting away, is irritated by her father’s new romance, and is distressed about the return of her older sister, Mina, from inpatient therapy for anorexia.
Hazel hasn’t just lost interest in all that the two former besties cared about; she’s actively demeaning and dismissive to Emily in the company of her new, cooler friends. Emily’s father seems to feel that she shouldn’t resent his new girlfriend’s prominent position in their lives—but she does, leaving Emily feeling guilty as well as angry. Mina’s many unresolved issues with food are realistically depicted; that she’ll continue to struggle is all but certain. Emily misses the easy relationship they once shared yet resents the way her sister’s anorexia has afflicted the whole family. Still, there are bright spots. Hector, an oft-bullied Latino boy, poignantly reaches out to Emily, who desperately needs a new friend. A few other kids and a perceptive teacher also offer support. While all of them help fill the gap, it takes Emily’s growing recognition of others’ suffering, related in her authentic voice, to put her own into a better perspective. As Mina’s best friend says, “Middle school blows.”
Engaging and believably realistic, effectively combining both harrowing challenges and the support of caring individuals—often absent in this trope—which makes this a fine read. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-243892-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
Brava!
From award winner Telgemeier (Smile, 2010), a pitch-perfect graphic novel portrayal of a middle school musical, adroitly capturing the drama both on and offstage.
Seventh-grader Callie Marin is over-the-moon to be on stage crew again this year for Eucalyptus Middle School’s production of Moon over Mississippi. Callie's just getting over popular baseball jock and eighth-grader Greg, who crushed her when he left Callie to return to his girlfriend, Bonnie, the stuck-up star of the play. Callie's healing heart is quickly captured by Justin and Jesse Mendocino, the two very cute twins who are working on the play with her. Equally determined to make the best sets possible with a shoestring budget and to get one of the Mendocino boys to notice her, the immensely likable Callie will find this to be an extremely drama-filled experience indeed. The palpably engaging and whip-smart characterization ensures that the charisma and camaraderie run high among those working on the production. When Greg snubs Callie in the halls and misses her reference to Guys and Dolls, one of her friends assuredly tells her, "Don't worry, Cal. We’re the cool kids….He's the dork." With the clear, stylish art, the strongly appealing characters and just the right pinch of drama, this book will undoubtedly make readers stand up and cheer.
Brava! (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-32698-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
SEEN & HEARD
Some readers may feel that the resolution comes a mite too easily, but most will enjoy the journey and be pleased when...
Two sisters make an unauthorized expedition to their former hometown and in the process bring together the two parts of their divided family.
Dooley packs plenty of emotion into this eventful road trip, which takes place over the course of less than 24 hours. Twelve-year-old Ophelia, nicknamed Fella, and her 16-year-old sister, Zoey Grace, aka Zany, are the daughters of a lesbian couple, Shannon and Lacy, who could not legally marry. The two white girls squabble and share memories as they travel from West Virginia to Asheville, North Carolina, where Zany is determined to scatter Mama Lacy’s ashes in accordance with her wishes. The year is 2004, before the Supreme Court decision on gay marriage, and the girls have been separated by hostile, antediluvian custodial laws. Fella’s present-tense narration paints pictures not just of the difficulties they face on the trip (a snowstorm, car trouble, and an unlikely thief among them), but also of their lives before Mama Lacy’s illness and of the ways that things have changed since then. Breathless and engaging, Fella’s distinctive voice is convincingly childlike. The conversations she has with her sister, as well as her insights about their relationship, likewise ring true. While the girls face serious issues, amusing details and the caring adults in their lives keep the tone relatively light.
Some readers may feel that the resolution comes a mite too easily, but most will enjoy the journey and be pleased when Fella’s family figures out how to come together in a new way . (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-16504-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
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