Potentially useful in classrooms that include character education in the curriculum, this purposive anthology will likely...
An illustrated collection of poems celebrating those who have, as the title indicates, "changed the world."
While the individuals profiled here are undeniably inspiring, the biographical poem, brief text and topical poem intended to illuminate each person’s achievements don’t adequately convey personality or relevance, resulting in an uneven collection that, ironically enough, fails to live up to its potential. Thirty poets have contributed their work, from familiar, prolific authors such as Lee Bennett Hopkins, Jane Yolen and Marilyn Singer to those whose writing is less well-known. Subjects range from the contemporary (Temple Grandin, Steven Spielberg) to the historical (Jonas Salk), and from the well-known to the obscure (Father Greg Boyle). Unfortunately, the poems are uneven in quality, with many seeming forced or predictable. In general, the topical poems are the most successful, with particularly engaging verses by Singer (about the joys of flight) and Alice Schertle (pondering the mysteries of a mummy’s tomb). A variety of poetic forms are used; some feature rhyme and are composed of multiple stanzas, others seem more like prose portraits arbitrarily broken into short lines. Jepson’s vibrant collage-style illustrations incorporate a variety of patterns and textures. Complementary colors help to tie facing pages together and also serve as backgrounds to the text, further linking the concepts on each double-page spread.
Potentially useful in classrooms that include character education in the curriculum, this purposive anthology will likely find it hard to find an appreciative audience in less-structured settings. (Picture book/poetry. 8 and up)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-61067-065-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: July 24, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2012
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid.
Black sixth-grader Jake Liston can only play one song on the piano. He can’t read music very well, and he can’t improvise. So how did Jake get accepted to the Music and Art Academy? He faked it.
Alongside an eclectic group of academy classmates, and with advice from his best friend, Jake tries to fit in at a school where things like garbage sculpting and writing art reviews of bird poop splatter are the norm. All is well until Jake discovers that the end-of-the-semester talent show is only two weeks away, and Jake is short one very important thing…talent. Or is he? It’s up to Jake to either find the talent that lies within or embarrass himself in front of the entire school. Light and humorous, with Knight’s illustrations adding to the fun, Jake’s story will likely appeal to many middle-grade readers, especially those who might otherwise be reluctant to pick up a book. While the artsy antics may be over-the-top at times, this is a story about something that most preteens can relate to: the struggle to find your authentic self. And in a world filled with books about wanting to fit in with the athletically gifted supercliques, this novel unabashedly celebrates the artsy crowd in all of its quirky, creative glory.
A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-553-52351-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
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