A timeless and affecting, slightly paranormal exploration of familial attachments.
Nine-year-old Julian is gifted both emotionally and intellectually, but these assets come at a sometimes-distressing cost.
He, his 14-year-old sister, Pookie, and his two moms, Mom and Joan, all apparently white, have just moved to rural Maine to open a bed and breakfast—and also to get Julian, who has a heart condition, out of a difficult school environment. He’s tormented by anxieties, nightmares, Mom’s severe overprotectiveness (somewhat offset by Joan’s more relaxed parenting style), and especially by their deteriorating relationship with Pookie, who seems always to be angry these days. He manages to cope by immersing himself in his passion, astronomy. After a neighbor threatens to sue the family over an addition to their new house, Julian befriends the elderly, grieving white man, bereft after his wife’s death. In return, “Mr. X” decides to help Julian overcome his paralyzing fear of swimming. Julian gently narrates this immersive tale, Erskine employing Julian's “uni-sensor” abilities (a quasi-magical, extrasensory connection with others) to reveal richly nuanced characters. It’s only near the conclusion that he discloses just how extraordinary his bond with others can be. Julian’s Facts and Random Thoughts (“FARTS,” natch), represented as sidebars in his handwriting, add insight into the boy’s psyche but also provide fascinating tidbits of trivia.
A timeless and affecting, slightly paranormal exploration of familial attachments. (Fiction. 11-14)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-14851-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
An outstanding addition to the inadequate-parent genre.
For 12-year-old, “fifty percent Swedish, twenty-five percent Haitian, twenty-five percent French” Felix, all of his scary stories are about the Ministry of Children and Family Development—the Canadian agency that has the power to take him from his mom and place him in foster care.
His flighty mother, Astrid (she’s the Swedish part), is both depressed and chronically under- or often unemployed. His father is mostly out of the picture. Astrid will do what she needs to, including artfully lying and stealing, to keep their heads—barely—above water as they descend into homelessness. As depicted with gritty realism, the pair has been living in a van for months, using public restrooms, and rarely having enough to eat. But Felix has two great friends, Winnie, who is Asian, and Dylan, who is white; they will watch his back whatever comes. Sadly, they have little idea of his truly dire situation since he’s so resourceful at hiding his problems in order to stave off the MCFD. When Felix is selected to appear on a quiz show, it seems as if it could offer a resolution for their troubles: Winning would earn him a $25,000 prize. Felix’s deeply engrossing and fully immersive first-person narrative of homelessness is both illuminating and heartbreaking. Although the story ends with hope for the future, it’s his winsome and affecting determination that will win readers over.
An outstanding addition to the inadequate-parent genre. (Fiction. 11-14)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-6834-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Rich, complex, and confidently voiced.
Lucy finds solace in her late mother’s passion for shark biology during a summer that brings a new grief.
First-person narrator Lucy and neighbor Fred are compiling a field guide to animals they find near their Rockport, Massachusetts, home. Lucy is the artist, Fred the scientist, and their lifelong friendship is only just hinting that it could become something more. Lucy’s mother, who died of a brain aneurysm when Lucy was 7, five years earlier in 1991, was a recognized shark biologist; her father is a police diver. When a great white is snagged by a local fisherman—a family friend—video footage of an interview with Lucy’s mother surfaces on the news, and Lucy longs to know more. But then another loved one dies, drowned in a quarry accident, and it is Lucy’s father who recovers the body—in their small community it seems everyone is grappling with the pain. Lucy’s persistence in learning about the anatomy of sharks in order to draw them is a kind of homage to those she’s lost. Most of the characters are white; a marine scientist woman of color and protégée of Lucy’s mother plays a key role. Allen offers, through Lucy’s voice, a look at the intersection of art, science, friendship, and love in a way that is impressively nuanced and realistic while offering the reassurance of connection.
Rich, complex, and confidently voiced. (Historical fiction. 11-14)Pub Date: April 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7352-3160-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
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