A heartfelt tear-jerker about love, friendship, and courage.
Bea and her best friend, Frankie, are horse-crazy 11-year-olds excited to spend a month together at Camp Shalom, a Jewish sleep-away camp.
When Frankie’s parents arrange instead for her to attend Circle M, a much more expensive horse camp, Bea feels betrayed. She’s hurt by Frankie’s willingness to abandon her and upset about her own parents’ inability to afford the pricey Circle M. This friendship crisis isn’t Bea’s only problem—she has also started breaking out in hives at the worst possible times: in front of her longtime crush (who is also Frankie’s brother) and the mean girls who share her cabin and when she auditions for the camp musical. But Bea finds silver linings as well: one is Regan from Ireland, who becomes her bunkmate and close friend; another is Harry, the camp directors’ son, who has progeria, a life-limiting genetic disorder. While Harry spends time in the infirmary and avoids the other campers, who are not always welcoming to him, Bea’s struggle with hives gives her a chance to get to know him beyond his illness. With help from Harry, Bea learns that she is brave enough to face hard things. The story gives voice to the experience of Jewish preteens; chronic illness and disability are also sensitively tackled in this complex tale about difference, acceptance, and self-confidence.
A heartfelt tear-jerker about love, friendship, and courage. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4598-2587-1
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
Quirky and imaginative—postmodern storytelling at its best.
Friendly curiosity and a gift for naming earn a polar bear an assortment of (mostly animal) friends, adventures, mishaps, and discoveries.
Arriving at a northern ocean, Duane spies a shipwreck. Swimming out to investigate, he meets its lone occupant, C.C., a learned snowy owl whose noble goal is acquiring knowledge to apply “toward the benefit of all.” Informing Duane that he’s a polar bear, she points out a nearby cave that might suit him—it even has a mattress. Adding furnishings from the wreck—the grandfather clock’s handless, but who needs to tell time when it’s always now?—he meets a self-involved musk ox, entranced by his own reflection, who’s delighted when Duane names him “Handsome.” As he comes to understand, then appreciate their considerable diversity, Duane brings out the best in his new friends. C.C., who has difficulty reading emotions and dislikes being touched, evokes the autism spectrum. Magic, a bouncy, impulsive arctic fox, manifests ADHD. Major Puff, whose proud puffin ancestry involves courageous retreats from danger, finds a perfect companion in Twitch, a risk-aware, common-sensical hare. As illustrated, Sun Girl, a human child, appears vaguely Native, and Squint, a painter, white, but they’re sui generis: The Canadian author avoids referencing human culture. The art conveys warmth in an icy setting; animal characters suggest beloved stuffed toys, gently reinforcing the message that friendship founded on tolerance breeds comfort and safety.
Quirky and imaginative—postmodern storytelling at its best. (Animal fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3341-0
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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