by Kathleen Leverich & illustrated by Walter Lorraine ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1995
Felicity Doll, self-proclaimed star, is once again out to make Priscilla Robin miserable in Leverich's third book about the duo (Best Enemies Again, 1991, etc.). Inspired by her older sister, Priscilla is starting a club of fourth graders who want to help out and do good deeds. Felicity, angered by anyone else in the spotlight, sets out first to destroy the club, then to take it over. Felicity's venom is matched by her cleverness, and as Priscilla counters every attack, their struggle begins to resemble a chess match. This amusing and fast-moving story bears no resemblance to reality: Felicity is so rotten, and Priscilla is so good, that no one would ever be able to tolerate either one of them. In its exaggerated form, however, it presents some thought-provoking and rather complex ethical dilemmas, and Felicity will surely stir young readers to exuberant indignation. Leverich effectively mirrors the black-and-white view middle-elementary children have of themselves and others. By the end, Felicity gets a much-deserved comeuppance (it won't necessarily satisfy the readers who want to see her drawn and quartered), bringing this engrossing transitional bookof which there are too fewto a fine and funny close. (b&w illustrations, not seen) (Fiction. 7+)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-688-13963-9
Page Count: 98
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1995
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by Kathleen Leverich & illustrated by Walter Lorraine
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by Xavier Hernandez & Jordi Ballonga & translated by Kathleen Leverich & illustrated by Francesco Corni
by Andrew Clements & illustrated by Brian Selznick ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1996
With comically realistic black-and-white illustrations by Selznick (The Robot King, 1995, etc.), this is a captivating...
Nicholas is a bright boy who likes to make trouble at school, creatively.
When he decides to torment his fifth-grade English teacher, Mrs. Granger (who is just as smart as he is), by getting everyone in the class to replace the word "pen'' with "frindle,'' he unleashes a series of events that rapidly spins out of control. If there's any justice in the world, Clements (Temple Cat, 1995, etc.) may have something of a classic on his hands. By turns amusing and adroit, this first novel is also utterly satisfying. The chess-like sparring between the gifted Nicholas and his crafty teacher is enthralling, while Mrs. Granger is that rarest of the breed: a teacher the children fear and complain about for the school year, and love and respect forever after.
With comically realistic black-and-white illustrations by Selznick (The Robot King, 1995, etc.), this is a captivating tale—one to press upon children, and one they'll be passing among themselves. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-689-80669-8
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1996
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by Andrew Clements & illustrated by Mark Elliott
by Neil Gaiman ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2002
Not for the faint-hearted—who are mostly adults anyway—but for stouthearted kids who love a brush with the sinister:...
A magnificently creepy fantasy pits a bright, bored little girl against a soul-eating horror that inhabits the reality right next door.
Coraline’s parents are loving, but really too busy to play with her, so she amuses herself by exploring her family’s new flat. A drawing-room door that opens onto a brick wall becomes a natural magnet for the curious little girl, and she is only half-surprised when, one day, the door opens onto a hallway and Coraline finds herself in a skewed mirror of her own flat, complete with skewed, button-eyed versions of her own parents. This is Gaiman’s (American Gods, 2001, etc.) first novel for children, and the author of the Sandman graphic novels here shows a sure sense of a child’s fears—and the child’s ability to overcome those fears. “I will be brave,” thinks Coraline. “No, I am brave.” When Coraline realizes that her other mother has not only stolen her real parents but has also stolen the souls of other children before her, she resolves to free her parents and to find the lost souls by matching her wits against the not-mother. The narrative hews closely to a child’s-eye perspective: Coraline never really tries to understand what has happened or to fathom the nature of the other mother; she simply focuses on getting her parents back and thwarting the other mother for good. Her ability to accept and cope with the surreality of the other flat springs from the child’s ability to accept, without question, the eccentricity and arbitrariness of her own—and every child’s own—reality. As Coraline’s quest picks up its pace, the parallel world she finds herself trapped in grows ever more monstrous, generating some deliciously eerie descriptive writing.
Not for the faint-hearted—who are mostly adults anyway—but for stouthearted kids who love a brush with the sinister: Coraline is spot on. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: July 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-380-97778-8
Page Count: 176
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2002
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by Neil Gaiman ; illustrated by Chris Riddell
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by Neil Gaiman ; illustrated by Divya Srinivasan
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