Overly deliberate plotting and uneven writing weigh down Roth’s debut.
Sixth-grader Sara has the potential to be a sympathetic heroine, and there’s plenty going on in her life to engender interest. She’s crushing on a cute boy in her class, disappointed to miss the school play because of illness (she had a starring role) and still sad about the death of her mother three years earlier. She’s also hurt by her father’s emotional withdrawal and yearning for a kitten. While this mix of serious and less-urgent issues is undeniably realistic, Sara’s reactions don’t vary enough to be believable, which gives the text an overall flat tone. Some of Roth’s poems use effective imagery and intriguing vocabulary to bring scenes to life. Others sound trite or forced and serve mainly to provide information necessary to push the plot along. Sara’s first-person narration captures the self-absorption typical of some middle school girls but unfortunately also prevents Roth from providing fully fleshed-out portraits of other characters or nuanced descriptions of their experiences. The brisk and happy resolution will likely please some readers, but it’s possible that others won’t have hung in long enough to reach it.
Ultimately the predictable story arc and limited character development prevent this novel in verse from channeling the charm of the eponymous fluffy kitten that appears on the cover . (Verse/fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-670-01440-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2013
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Poet Alexander deftly reveals the power of the format to pack an emotional punch.
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Basketball-playing twins find challenges to their relationship on and off the court as they cope with changes in their lives.
Josh Bell and his twin, Jordan, aka JB, are stars of their school basketball team. They are also successful students, since their educator mother will stand for nothing else. As the two middle schoolers move to a successful season, readers can see their differences despite the sibling connection. After all, Josh has dreadlocks and is quiet on court, and JB is bald and a trash talker. Their love of the sport comes from their father, who had also excelled in the game, though his championship was achieved overseas. Now, however, he does not have a job and seems to have health problems the parents do not fully divulge to the boys. The twins experience their first major rift when JB is attracted to a new girl in their school, and Josh finds himself without his brother. This novel in verse is rich in character and relationships. Most interesting is the family dynamic that informs so much of the narrative, which always reveals, never tells. While Josh relates the story, readers get a full picture of major and minor players. The basketball action provides energy and rhythm for a moving story.
Poet Alexander deftly reveals the power of the format to pack an emotional punch. (Verse fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-10771-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 18, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
Categories: CHILDREN'S POETRY | CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS
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SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
There’s a monster in Sidwell, Massachusetts, that can only be seen at night or, as Twig reveals, if passersby are near her house.
It’s her older brother, James, born with wings just like every male in the Fowler line for the last 200 years. They were cursed by the Witch of Sidwell, left brokenhearted by their forebear Lowell Fowler. Twig and James are tired of the secret and self-imposed isolation. Lonely Twig narrates, bringing the small town and its characters to life, intertwining events present and past, and describing the effects of the spell on her fractured family’s daily life. Longing for some normalcy and companionship, she befriends new-neighbor Julia while James falls in love with Julia’s sister, Agate—only to learn they are descendants of the Witch. James and Agate seem as star-crossed as their ancestors, especially when the townspeople attribute a spate of petty thefts and graffiti protesting the development of the woods to the monster and launch a hunt. The mix of romance and magic is irresistible and the tension, compelling. With the help of friends and through a series of self-realizations and discoveries, Twig grows more self-assured. She is certain she knows how to change the curse. In so doing, Twig not only changes James’ fate, but her own, for the first time feeling the fullness of family, friends and hope for the future.
Enchanting. (Magical realism. 9-12)Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-38958-7
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
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