Plants aren’t the only things that grow in this book about perseverance, friendship, and personal growth.
Indian American fourth grader Nina Soni can’t believe her good luck: Unlike most years, this year, take-your-son-or-daughter-to-work day is sunny and bright and warm.
The beautiful weather means that Nina, her younger sister, Kavita, and her best friend, Jay, get to spend the day gardening with Nina’s landscape-architect mother. Nina, Kavita, Jay, and their families work together to build three raised beds, one for each of the children to use as their own first garden. Throughout the spring and summer, the kids help one another’s gardens thrive. This means finding ecofriendly, humane ways to fend off rabbits, blue jays, mosquitoes, and Japanese beetles. When their vegetables are ready, they share their successful harvests with their neighbors and a local food pantry. Through it all, Nina is determined to learn as much as she can so that she, like her mother, can become a master of the garden. As in previous books in this series, Nina’s sincere and circumspect narratorial voice—and her beautifully illustrated lists and asides—renders this story a delight to read. Sheth expertly weaves details about Nina’s Indian heritage together with her pride in being a Wisconsinite. However, unlike in previous volumes, the conflicts are largely unrelated to Nina’s personal relationships, and the plot meanders a bit, but not enough to deter either Nina’s fans or readers new to her world.
Plants aren’t the only things that grow in this book about perseverance, friendship, and personal growth. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-68263-225-3
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
Certain to steal hearts.
In this follow-up to 2020’s The One and Only Bob, Ruby the elephant is still living at Wildworld Zoological Park and Sanctuary.
She’s apprehensive about her Tuskday, a rite of passage for young elephants when she’ll give a speech in front of the rest of the herd. Luckily, she can confide in her Uncle Ivan, who is next door in Gorilla World, and Uncle Bob, the dog who lives nearby with human friend Julia. Ruby was born in an unspecified part of Africa, later ending up on display in the mall, where she met Ivan, Bob, and Julia. The unexpected arrival of someone from Ruby’s past life on the savanna revives memories both warmly nostalgic and deeply traumatic. An elephant glossary and Castelao’s charming, illustrated guide to elephant body language help immerse readers in Ruby’s world. Goofy, playful, and mischievous Ruby is fully dimensional, as she has shown her bravery during the many hardships of her young life. Applegate deftly tempers themes of grief and loss with compassion and humor as Ruby finds her place in the herd. The author’s note touches on climate change, the illegal ivory trade, and conservation efforts, but the highly emotive framing of the story through the memories of a bewildered baby elephant emphasizes the impact of lines such as “ ‘in Africa,’ I say softly, ‘there were bad people,’ ” without offering readers a nuanced understanding of the broader context that drives poaching.
Certain to steal hearts. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780063080089
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey.
Separated from his pack, Swift, a young wolf, embarks on a perilous search for a new home.
Swift’s mother impresses on him early that his “pack belongs to the mountains and the mountains belong to the pack.” His father teaches him to hunt elk, avoid skunks and porcupines, revere the life that gives them life, and “carry on” when their pack is devastated in an attack by enemy wolves. Alone and grieving, Swift reluctantly leaves his mountain home. Crossing into unfamiliar territory, he’s injured and nearly dies, but the need to run, hunt, and live drives him on. Following a routine of “walk-trot-eat-rest,” Swift traverses prairies, canyons, and deserts, encountering men with rifles, hunger, thirst, highways, wild horses, a cougar, and a forest fire. Never imagining the “world could be so big or that I could be so alone in it,” Swift renames himself Wander as he reaches new mountains and finds a new home. Rife with details of the myriad scents, sounds, tastes, touches, and sights in Swift/Wander’s primal existence, the immediacy of his intimate, first-person, present-tense narration proves deeply moving, especially his longing for companionship. Realistic black-and-white illustrations trace key events in this unique survival story, and extensive backmatter fills in further factual information about wolves and their habitat.
A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey. (additional resources, map) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-289593-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
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