A likable protagonist helms this appealing school story.
A happy, loud, and messy third-grader meets obstacles at home and school in this novel for Junie B. graduates.
First-person narrator Meena loves color and finds beauty in the trash she adds to her large collection of found objects she saves for Inspiration. But although Meena surrounds herself with every color of the rainbow, a “gray haze” has crept into her life. First, her best friend, Sofía, stops playing with Meena at recess so she can stay in and get ahead on schoolwork. Then Meena has a seizure. In Meena’s imaginative mind, the word “seizure” sounds like “sea” and “treasure.” Of course, the reality is not as colorful or as pleasant as the word sounds. As Meena waits for a diagnosis to explain it, she continues on as her creative self, building a milk-jug igloo with her adoring little sister, Rosie, and their nature-loving cousin Eli. When Meena learns the truth about why she and Sofía aren’t friends anymore, she discovers that everyone struggles with something, even people who seem to be the best at everything. The grayscale artwork seems to come straight from an anime coloring book. Meena and her family are white, but she wishes she had Latina Sofía’s brown skin instead of her own “peachy-blah” tone. Meena’s epilepsy diagnosis doesn’t overpower the story, making it just one part of her well-rounded character.
A likable protagonist helms this appealing school story. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-2817-1
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Not the most satisfying wrap-up, but it’s always good to spend time in the world of this series.
Beloved gorilla Ivan becomes a father to rambunctious twins in this finale to a quartet that began with 2012’s Newbery Award–winning The One and Only Ivan.
Life hasn’t always been easy for silverback gorilla Ivan, who’s spent most of his life being mistreated in captivity. Now he’s living in a wildlife sanctuary, but he still gets to see his two best friends. Young elephant Ruby lives in the grassy habitat next door, and former stray dog Bob has a home with one of the zookeepers. All three were rescued from the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. Ivan’s expanded world includes fellow gorilla Kinyani—the two are about to become parents, and Ivan is revisiting the traumas of his past in light of what he wants the twins to know. When the subject inevitably comes up, Applegate’s trust and respect for readers is evident. She doesn’t shy away from hard truths as Ivan wrestles with the fact that poachers killed his family. Readers will need the context provided by knowledge of the earlier books to feel the full emotional impact of this story. The rushed ending unfortunately falls flat, detracting from the central message that a complex life can still contain hope. Final art not seen.
Not the most satisfying wrap-up, but it’s always good to spend time in the world of this series. (gorilla games, glossary, author’s note) (Verse fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9780063221123
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
Readers will be rooting for Bryan to make the right choices even as they understand the wrong ones.
A loner navigates a dangerous relationship.
Bryan is a quiet, Afro–Puerto Rican sixth-grader living in Brooklyn. He enjoys comic books, video games, and keeping to himself. Pa, recently released from prison, and Bryan’s sister, Ava, encourage him to be tough. Ava mocks him for being a “momma’s boy,” and Pa tells him it’s better to be feared than liked. Ma, however, encourages Bryan to use his brains instead of his fists. Ma introduces Bryan to Mike, a slightly older black boy who uses the services at the community center where Ma works; she says he “seems nice” and “gets good grades,” and Bryan needs a friend. Soon Mike and Bryan become so close that they say they’re brothers—but Mike isn’t as good as Ma and others think. Bryan gets swept up in Mike’s influence and begins to behave badly in small ways, throwing rocks at cars from rooftops and practicing his mother’s handwriting so he can forge excuses from school. After Pa violates his parole and is arrested again, Bryan’s behavior escalates, including cutting class and hopping onto moving trains. Through Bryan’s believable, emotionally honest first-person narration, Maldonado skillfully shows a boy trying to navigate parental desires and the societal expectations of his Brooklyn neighborhood while trying to figure himself out.
Readers will be rooting for Bryan to make the right choices even as they understand the wrong ones. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-4055-9
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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