In a third book about Lila, the girl sees all her Great Ideas go unexpectedly wrong during the first month of school. The likable Price School kids are excited about sixth grade. Lila is hoping to be student council president, but when best friend Gayle is nominated, Lila becomes her campaign manager— with unfortunate results. Meanwhile, the class is taking care of egg-babies and Lila's day-care center fails after one of the eggs is kidnapped. With her mother distracted by a new job, and with friends Gayle and Michael excluding her, Lila pauses briefly to wallow in self-pity before taking charge of improving her situation. Some of her Great Ideas do work out after all: Gayle is elected, while Lila becomes editor of the school paper. De Groat's appealing b&w illustrations reveal a diversity in the class that's not evident from the text. Though light, this touches on serious issues of responsibility; McMullan deserves praise for creating its well-rounded, individualized characters. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: July 23, 1991
ISBN: 0-374-32774-2
Page Count: 148
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1991
An unambitious novella about ambitious 12-year-old Frisk: He gets a summer job managing a backroom pool hall in Wilma, Virginia; sets up his mother with the polite pro who teaches him the game; and, by stepping in for his mentor at the pivotal moment in a pool tournament (which comprises a third of the book), becomes the toast of the pool hall. This is a feel-good novel that isn't particularly compelling, but doesn't disappoint readers either. Hite (Answer My Prayer, p. 711, etc.) has an upright sense of humor; with admirable speed he sketches out characters and lays down the plot. The only larger idea in the novel appears on the last page, concerning pool: ``It is immensely popular for one simple reason: It's fun. . . . You might give it a try sometime.'' A fast read, without any bumps, that, like the average TV show, leaves almost no impression. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-8050-3837-X
Page Count: 92
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A scattered, even haphazard biography of peace activist and Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda focuses on his friendship with his teacher, Josei Toda. Born in 1928 to a seaweed-farming family, Ikeda wanted to join the army like his four older brothers, but his father kept him at home. As a young adult after the war, he joined Soka Gakkai, a Nichiren Buddhist organization, and became a student of its leader, the unlucky-in-business Josei Toda. Working through adversities, both men expanded the organization to its current 12 million followers worldwide. Perry admits to imagining the settings of events in her short narrative bio but claims emotions, dialogue and actual occurrences all come from Ikeda’s copious writings. The ample backmatter is far more informative than the anemic, often confusing text. A four-page annotated photo album, a lengthy timeline dotted with sidebars and explanations and an excellent index make up the latter half of the book. More work integrating that information into the text would have made this a more worthwhile purchase. (Biography. 8-12)
Pub Date: March 16, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-977113-1-2
Page Count: 108
Publisher: Namelos
Review Posted Online: June 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2010
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