by JJ Allen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 19, 2015
A calm, comedic tale of special friendships with beloved family members.
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A girl has a startling bathtime experience in this heartwarming sleepover story by debut authors Allen and Knowles.
In this tale, a young girl celebrates her relationship with her youthful-looking grandmother by describing the overnight visits she has with her every week. The pair apparently has endless fun together, whether they’re doing art projects, playing hopscotch on “the world’s largest hopscotch board,” jumping on a trampoline, or making healthy meals. Grandma likes vegetables, and she lets the girl put the salad together while adding a cooked vegetable to the mix. “Eating all my food, especially my vegetables makes my grandma very happy,” the narrator explains. But one night, there’s an extra lesson about what can happen if you don’t eat all your veggies. As the girl takes her bath in Grandma’s special big tub, she sees a “wormy, squirmy and buggy” thing at the bottom of it. Both she and Grandma panic, and wonderfully active illustrations depict the urgency with which the narrator leaves the tub. However, they quickly discover that the mysterious bug is actually a vegetable from dinner. Children will laugh at the big reveal—particularly lap readers and youngsters who try to avoid vegetables themselves. The story’s pacing is on the slow side; the main characters, for example, don’t discover the bug until three-quarters of the way through the book. The easygoing way that the girl describes her grandmother gives the tale a calm tenor, which is only briefly interrupted by the threat of a buggy bath. Overall, the vocabulary is appropriate for newly independent readers. That said, some pages have fairly dense text, while others have only a few words—an uneven division that may throw younger readers. The exuberant illustrations, though, will pull them through. The narrator is precocious and unstoppable, and she clearly gets those qualities from her grandmother; the pictures of them together are joyful and comforting. Young readers, particularly those with close grandparent relationships, will see the love reflected in the pages.
A calm, comedic tale of special friendships with beloved family members.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2015
ISBN: 978-1492938453
Page Count: 34
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Marti Dumas illustrated by Stephanie Parcus ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 11, 2017
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
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A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Paul Langan Ben Alirez ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2004
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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