As they learn to take responsibility for their mini-fiascoes, Melonhead and Sam deliver sniggers galore in this sweet and...
Melonhead and his buddy Sam deliver their third goofball romp when they go undercover to catch one of the FBI’s Most Wanted.
Having earned “Junior Special Agent” status from their numerous visits to FBI headquarters, Melonhead and Sam decide that a woman they meet on the bus is The Chameleon, master of disguise and wanted by the FBI. They get so caught up in their self-imposed spy mission that, despite their perpetual good intentions, things run amok. In particular, they bungle a pastry delivery, to the delight of the squirrels, when they hide in a tree outside the suspect’s home. As in the first two books of this series, the story is liberal with such tomfoolery as nose picking, butt walking and a dog-pee mishap. The boys have a witty repartee and are fond of rhyming: “E-Z P-Z, rice and cheezie” or “Unbend, my friend.” As the pair works at fixing their delivery bungle while still continuing to track and report on The Chameleon, they learn that fear and bravery go hand in hand and that sometimes tomato-soup blunders turn out to be a good thing. Combined with appearances from neighborhood favorites met in earlier volumes and Johnson’s snappy sketches, Melonhead’s pure, kid-centric, fun-loving perspective is hard to resist.
As they learn to take responsibility for their mini-fiascoes, Melonhead and Sam deliver sniggers galore in this sweet and funky confection. (Mystery. 8-11)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-385-73659-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Aug. 9, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Move over Ramona Quimby, Portland has another neighbor you have to meet!
Ryan Hart is navigating the fourth grade and all its challenges with determination.
Her mom named her Ryan because it means “king,” and she wanted Ryan to feel powerful every time she heard her name; Ryan knows it means she is a leader. So when changes occur or disaster strikes, budding chef Ryan does her best to find the positive and “make sunshine.” When her dad is laid off from the post office, the family must make adjustments that include moving into a smaller house, selling their car, and changing how they shop for groceries. But Ryan gets to stay at Vernon Elementary, and her mom still finds a way to get her the ingredients she needs to practice new recipes. Her older brother, Ray, can be bossy, but he finds little ways to support her, especially when she is down—as does the whole family. Each episodic chapter confronts Ryan with a situation; intermittently funny, frustrating, and touching, they should be familiar and accessible to readers, as when Ryan fumbles her Easter speech despite careful practice. Ryan, her family, and friends are Black, and Watson continues to bring visibility to both Portland, Oregon, generally and its Black community specifically, making another wonderful contribution that allows Black readers to see themselves and all readers to find a character they can love.
Move over Ramona Quimby, Portland has another neighbor you have to meet! (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: April 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0056-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
The journey is even gently funny—Omakayas’s brother spends much of the year with a porcupine on his head. Charming and...
This third entry in the Birchbark House series takes Omakayas and her family west from their home on the Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker, away from land the U.S. government has claimed.
Difficulties abound; the unknown landscape is fraught with danger, and they are nearing hostile Bwaanag territory. Omakayas’s family is not only close, but growing: The travelers adopt two young chimookoman (white) orphans along the way. When treachery leaves them starving and alone in a northern Minnesota winter, it will take all of their abilities and love to survive. The heartwarming account of Omakayas’s year of travel explores her changing family relationships and culminates in her first moon, the onset of puberty. It would be understandable if this darkest-yet entry in Erdrich’s response to the Little House books were touched by bitterness, yet this gladdening story details Omakayas’s coming-of-age with appealing optimism.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-06-029787-9
Page Count: 208
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2008
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