No superheroes in this inspiring story, just committed kids willing to do the hard work—internal and external—to make a...
A 13-year-old Canadian girl learns the true meaning of bravery while encountering challenges and adventure at a leatherback-turtle sanctuary in Costa Rica.
Robin lives and helps out at the Wild Place Animal Shelter run by her white family: her veterinarian father, her 11-year-old brother, Squirm, and her grandmother, Griff. Robin’s mother’s early death imprinted Robin with a generalized fear (she calls herself a “wuss”); but Griff, (the story’s wise soul who satisfyingly dispenses wise-soul observations) reassures her. Still, Robin wishes she were like her best friend, Zo-Zo, who apparently isn’t scared of anything. When Robin, Zo-Zo, Griff, and Squirm travel to Costa Rica to help a new Costa Rican friend, Carlos, with his fledgling turtle sanctuary, they find a bare-bones outfit. With enthusiasm, the Canadians, an evidently all-white crew, work with brown-skinned Carlos to help it succeed. (Reading only the tropes, there’s a whiff of white-savior overtones, but Hood-Caddy’s narrative throughout stresses the equitable passion of shared beliefs.) When Robin and Zo-Zo are kidnapped, the details are age-appropriately realistic—a hallmark throughout. Also realistically—and refreshingly—the girls don’t accomplish a daring, formulaic escape. Instead, Robin prevents Zo-Zo from doing something foolish before they are rescued, learning that not letting fear stop you is braver than bravado.
No superheroes in this inspiring story, just committed kids willing to do the hard work—internal and external—to make a positive difference. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 20, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4597-4017-4
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Dundurn
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
A striking and heartfelt debut.
Fifteen-year-old Marjan Dastani discovers hidden family secrets and assumes new responsibilities after her father dies.
Until his murder, Marjan’s Iranian immigrant father was a veterinarian who ran West Berkeley Animal Clinic. Now, the high school sophomore, whose Norwegian American mother died of cancer years earlier, is left trying to run the business. Francesca Wix, her African American neighbor, is now her legal guardian. As Marjan attempts to keep her father’s veterinary practice afloat, she ruminates on her resentment of the demands it made on her father’s time—and is startled to learn that she is part of an ancient lineage tasked with healing mythological creatures. The layers of complex emotional and identity issues Marjan tackles give her character great depth; moments when she reflects on her connection to Persian culture feel natural and raw. The more readers learn about how she helps fantastical animals, the more is revealed about her father and the mystery surrounding his death. Marjan also deals with emotional triggers that do not allow her to bury her feelings, and the exploration of grief will affect readers deeply. The detailed visual descriptions clearly conjure up the enchanting world Monsef has created, one populated by expressive, surreal beings, each of which has its own backstory.
A striking and heartfelt debut. (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781665928502
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Gaea is raising an army of giants to defeat the gods, and Juno has switched heroes Percy Jackson (son of Poseidon) and Jason...
After spinning his wheels in series opener The Lost Hero (2010), Riordan regains his traction with book two of The Heroes of Olympus.
Gaea is raising an army of giants to defeat the gods, and Juno has switched heroes Percy Jackson (son of Poseidon) and Jason Grace (son of Jupiter) in order to unite Greek and Roman gods and demigods in battle against her. His memory wiped, Percy knows only that he has another life and a girlfriend, Annabeth; he needs to focus now on winning the trust of the Roman demigods. As per usual, he has two appealing companions with intriguing back stories, Hazel Levesque (daughter of Pluto) and Frank Zhang (son of…?). The three undertake a quest to Alaska to defeat the giant Alcyoneus and free Thanatos, "the border patrol" of the Underworld, assisted and opposed along the way by a pleasing variety of magical beings. Riordan achieves freshness within his formula by giving characters and readers a new environment—Camp Jupiter, similar only in broad concept to Camp Half-Blood—to discover, and his pell-mell pacing has returned. As with all of Riordan's mythological tales, the details that bring the legends into the 21st century delight: The camp's augur reads the entrails of Beanie Babies; tiny, malignant grain spirits dissolve into Chex Mix; the Amazons' headquarters are in Seattle at, well, you guessed it.Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4231-4059-7
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Oct. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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