``Kids at school...they won't talk to me because of Hannie, even though sometimes I think Patty Jo wouldn't mind being friends. I guess they're afraid Hannie'll rub off on them or something.'' Eight-year-old Hannie is ``slow,'' and between watching out for her and trying to keep bright, rebellious little Mooch out of trouble, Maggie is afraid she'll never have friends. Then Hannie finds an old stuffed unicorn and decides it can make wishes come true. Her faith is so great that Maggie begins to believe too, especially when some of her own wishes are realized- -though not always as she had envisioned. Maggie yearns not to live in a trailer and to have her mother find a daytime job, as well as to have friends; what she gets is new understanding of her family's importance to her, and of what kind of friends are worth having. Maggie, a likeable, forthright sixth grader who bears up well under difficult circumstances, is this first novel's strongest component. Unfortunately, six-year-old Mooch's character rings less true, while the action is poorly paced and the worthy moral loses impact with frequent repetition. Adequate fare for middle readers. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-8050-1572-8
Page Count: 108
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1991
Carrick (Melanie, 1996, etc.) sensitively explores the pain of a parent’s death through the eyes, feelings, and voice of a nine-year-old boy whose world turns upside down when his father becomes terminally ill with cancer. Through a fictional reminiscence, the story explores many of the issues common to children whose parents are ill—loss of control, changes in physical appearance and mental ability, upsets in daily routine, experiences of guilt and anger, the reaction of friends, and, most of all, a fear of the unknown. Although the book suffers from a pat ending and the black-and-white sketches emphasize the bleakness of the topic, this title is a notch above pure bibliotherapy and will fill a special niche for children struggling to deal with the trauma of parental sickness and death. (Fiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 20, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-84151-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
A look at the often-cruel realm of fourth grade. Nate and his new friend, Donald, are happy they will be in the same class, but unhappy to find that so is Louisa, a girl who lives to ridicule others. On the very first day, she dubs Donald “King of the Kooties,” and takes every opportunity to taunt and humiliate him. Shy, quiet Donald has no idea how to respond, so Nate devises a plan to get Louisa off their backs. Nate’s solution, to embrace the Kooties title and to publicly include Louisa in it, is clever, but many readers will find it implausible, given Louisa’s well-established spite, aggression, and determination. As a story that takes a look at one approach to the age-old problem of bullies, it works well, straining credibility but never becoming didactic. (b&w illustrations) (Fiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8027-8709-6
Page Count: 84
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
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