A funny and reassuring reminder that no matter how great Plan A seems, sometimes Plan B turns out to be better.
An English tween seeks her place and her true voice.
Lottie Brooks, age 11 and 3/4, lives in Brighton—so she’s devastated that her best friend, Molly, has moved all the way to Australia. But fortunately, she has a plan for surviving her first year at her new school: She’s going to reinvent herself in hopes of avoiding the dire fate of having to sit alone at lunch, stuff “sandwiches into [her] mouth as quickly as possible,” and “hide in the bathroom.” When school starts, she makes a friend in new student Jess, develops a crush on Theo, and gets caught up in drama involving cool, popular frenemies Amber and Poppy. On top of all that, her parents announce that a new sibling is on the way. It’s bad enough she has Toby, her annoying 7-year-old brother; Lottie’s plan is going “spectacularly wrong!” The story, told through Lottie’s amusing diary entries and illustrated with stick figures and doodle-style line art, will reassure young people who are facing life transitions, helping them to put matters in perspective and be true to themselves—all without being preachy. Fans of Jacqueline Wilson, Marissa Moss, and Raina Telgemeier will be pleased. Lottie reads white, and the supporting cast surrounding her contains racial diversity.
A funny and reassuring reminder that no matter how great Plan A seems, sometimes Plan B turns out to be better. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: July 1, 2025
ISBN: 9798217116621
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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