An insightful exploration of a girl’s inner tickings.
The musical and natural worlds help a tween understand her family and her personal dynamics.
Twelve-year-old Madrigal begins her story in November in a diminuendo mood. Maddie is studying the oboe, the instrument that voices the Duck in Peter and the Wolf, and she is dedicated to improving her technique so she can perform the solo in her school’s winter concert. Her world changes when her older brother, Strum, a college student deeply concerned about the environment, disappears. Maddie compulsively counts objects and believes that even numbers are the best. She is a gifted math student who appreciates order and regularity, eating the same precisely prepared sandwich for lunch every day. January is a month of staccato as Maddie thinks of herself as a fraction, divided from the brother who makes her whole; reflecting his favorite color, she plays Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. She regards February as a month of crescendo when, as a member of the environmental club at school, she visits a blue morpho butterfly exhibit that gives her an idea as to where Strum has gone. The combination of free verse and first-person narrative convey Maddie’s thoughts as she learns to appreciate that both music and family follow strong emotional currents, not just the precision of a metronome. The family defaults to White.
An insightful exploration of a girl’s inner tickings. (Verse novel. 10-12)Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4862-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
The Baudelaire children—Violet, 14, Klaus, 12, and baby Sunny—are exceedingly ill-fated; Snicket extracts both humor and horror from their situation, as he gleefully puts them through one terrible ordeal after another. After receiving the news that their parents died in a fire, the three hapless orphans are delivered into the care of Count Olaf, who “is either a third cousin four times removed, or a fourth cousin three times removed.” The villainous Count Olaf is morally depraved and generally mean, and only takes in the downtrodden yet valiant children so that he can figure out a way to separate them from their considerable inheritance. The youngsters are able to escape his clutches at the end, but since this is the first installment in A Series of Unfortunate Events, there will be more ghastly doings. Written with old-fashioned flair, this fast-paced book is not for the squeamish: the Baudelaire children are truly sympathetic characters who encounter a multitude of distressing situations. Those who enjoy a little poison in their porridge will find it wicked good fun. (b&w illustrations, not seen) (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-440766-7
Page Count: 162
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
Like its predecessor, a satisfying, Incredibles-style mix of awesome exploits and common family issues.
Deprived of superpowers in the previous episode (Almost Super, 2014), can the Bailey and Johnson clans put aside their squabbles to tackle their common nemesis, the Joneses?
Determined to prove that they have the mettle to join their parents and relatives in fighting crime, 13-year-old Rafter Bailey, his little brother, Benny, and erstwhile rival Juanita Johnson (definitely the brains of the trio) kick off their own search for the Joneses’ secret hideout. Little do they suspect that those clever villains have planted a ringer in their very midst. Sabotage and other distractions ensue, until Juanita’s sudden disappearance sharpens not only the urgency of the search, but also Rafter’s guilt for being a poor friend. The kidnapping turns out to be a crucial mistake for the bad guys, however, as resourceful Juanita gets off a call for help that both brings the Baileys and Johnsons together for a collective rescue operation and, amid much breakage of glass and heroic feats of derring-do, foils the evil schemes of scenery-chewing archfiend October Jones. Rafter makes a likable narrator, emotionally open and determined to be both a good superhero and a good friend.
Like its predecessor, a satisfying, Incredibles-style mix of awesome exploits and common family issues. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-220958-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
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