A delightfully funny read that accurately deals with the challenges of internet fame and nurturing friendships.
Comedian Hart’s sophomore middle-grade title, co-authored with Rodkey, explores the ways social media success can impact kids’ relationships and sense of self.
References to Marcus Makes a Movie (2021) give a synopsis of the earlier story to smooth the way for new readers without taking up too much of the narrative. In this entry, the fame generated by Marcus and Sierra’s movie from their after-school film club goes to Marcus’ head and leads to an unhealthy social media fixation. In fact, the movie that the duo created has landed them a spot on a popular television show. Unfortunately, Marcus’ tendency to speak first and ask questions later leads to a collision course with social media trolls, competing against his creative partner for likes, and the alienation of friends. Marcus’ father acts as an effective mirror who helps Marcus process and manage his social media consumption. Through Marcus’ ups and downs that are shared in a chatty tone sprinkled with plenty of humor, readers get a behind-the-scenes look at marketing strategies and the emotional peril of becoming too consumed by the quest for fame. Readers also see how difficult sharing the spotlight and protecting friendships can be. Characters are cued as Black. Final artwork not seen.
A delightfully funny read that accurately deals with the challenges of internet fame and nurturing friendships. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 3, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-17918-5
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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