A quirky tale of tails with an endearing narrator whom young girls would love to befriend.
In this middle-grade fable, an intelligent and empathetic preteen is enlisted to help a mermaid fix her “wrong tail.”
Twelve-year-old Samantha Ford knows she’s lucky to live a privileged life in Manhattan with her war hero–turned-lawyer father and her beautiful, glamorous mother—even if her mother often discourages her from certain things because, according to her, “Nothing will come of it.” Sam was born with club feet, but she has made the most of her condition thanks to her beloved nurse, Nana. Now, it’s the family’s first summer vacation on Nantucket since Sam’s mother forced Nana to retire, and Sam decides to take surfing lessons. However, the instructor sends Sam out to sea, all the way to Bermuda, where she washes up in a cove with a mermaid named Lori. Lori was born with a “wrong tail,” one that resembles that of a swordfish more than a dolphin, and she needs Sam’s help to cast a spell that will change it into a normal tail; otherwise, she’ll be ostracized and forced to live in a faraway colony with other “wrong tails.” Sam and Lori embark on adventures that include rescuing sea turtles, retrieving pearls from sirens and journeying to an underwater volcano to cast the spell. Author Horst (Allingham: Desperate Ride, 2013, etc.) has a surprisingly good ear for what a precocious preteen girl sounds like, and she fills the novel with long passages of narration in Sam’s smart, self-assured voice: “Good gums are what you’re after when you brush and floss. The rest is just icing on the cake. Well, maybe that’s not a good analogy, as neither icing nor cake is really good for your teeth.” Such quirkiness can come off as cartoonish or unrealistic, but Sam is a delight. Valuable lessons about accepting one’s differences, as well as those of the people around you, make this story an ideal beach read for young readers. One hopes Horst has further adventures planned for Sam.
A quirky tale of tails with an endearing narrator whom young girls would love to befriend.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1502556608
Page Count: 132
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A joyful celebration.
Families in a variety of configurations play, dance, and celebrate together.
The rhymed verse, based on a song from the Noodle Loaf children’s podcast, declares that “Families belong / Together like a puzzle / Different-sized people / One big snuggle.” The accompanying image shows an interracial couple of caregivers (one with brown skin and one pale) cuddling with a pajama-clad toddler with light brown skin and surrounded by two cats and a dog. Subsequent pages show a wide array of families with members of many different racial presentations engaging in bike and bus rides, indoor dance parties, and more. In some, readers see only one caregiver: a father or a grandparent, perhaps. One same-sex couple with two children in tow are expecting another child. Smart’s illustrations are playful and expressive, curating the most joyful moments of family life. The verse, punctuated by the word together, frequently set in oversized font, is gently inclusive at its best but may trip up readers with its irregular rhythms. The song that inspired the book can be found on the Noodle Loaf website.
A joyful celebration. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22276-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
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