A heck of a good read about the bright side of some durn bad luck
An orphaned kid with a biography of misfortune must die to see that home and happiness live in the strangest places.
Gabe is no stranger to death. His parents are dead. His grandfather is dead. And after an unfortunate encounter with a weather vane, so is he. He thinks it’s all a misunderstanding until his uncaring caretaker turns him—and the gaping hole in his abdomen—away. The town echoes her revulsion by revolting against walking-dead Gabe with rocks, fists, and angry cries. His solace in his new, mysterious existence is his unflappably loyal dog and a strange girl (initially resembling an old friend named Niko) who rescues him from the mob. Not-Niko eventually reveals herself as Wynne, a long-dead girl who inherited the role of Death and wants to hand Gabe the baton. It’s a fate Gabe refuses—no matter how much he finds himself enjoying the company of Death. Set in the rural South, the novel has syrup-soaked, rich imagery that’s a sensory delight. Gabe’s voice is distinct, and his countrified vernacular layers heart and humor onto a sensitive premise. And the evolution of his conflict—embracing friendship with Wynne while avoiding the responsibility—reinforces the humanity amid the magic. Gabe is white, as is most of the community. Niko is Bangladeshi (represented only in memory), and Wynne is black; racism is not a driving plot point, but its mention underscores ever present small-minded reality.
A heck of a good read about the bright side of some durn bad luck . (Paranormal adventure. 10-12)Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-04274-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
On equal footing with a garden-variety potato.
The new kid in school endures becoming the school mascot.
Ben Hardy has never cared for potatoes, and this distaste has become a barrier to adjusting to life in his new Idaho town. His school’s mascot is the Spud, and after a series of misfortunes, Ben is enlisted to don the potato costume and cheer on his school’s team. Ben balances his duties as a life-sized potato against his desperate desire to hide the fact that he’s the dork in the suit. After all, his cute new crush, Jayla, wouldn’t be too impressed to discover Ben’s secret. The ensuing novel is a fairly boilerplate middle–grade narrative: snarky tween protagonist, the crush that isn’t quite what she seems, and a pair of best friends that have more going on than our hero initially believes. The author keeps the novel moving quickly, pushing forward with witty asides and narrative momentum so fast that readers won’t really mind that the plot’s spine is one they’ve encountered many times before. Once finished, readers will feel little resonance and move on to the next book in their to-read piles, but in the moment the novel is pleasant enough. Ben, Jayla, and Ben’s friend Hunter are white while Ellie, Ben’s other good pal, is Latina.
On equal footing with a garden-variety potato. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: March 24, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-11866-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
A solid debut: fluent, funny and eminently sequel-worthy.
Inventively tweaking a popular premise, Jensen pits two Incredibles-style families with superpowers against each other—until a new challenge rises to unite them.
The Johnsons invariably spit at the mere mention of their hated rivals, the Baileys. Likewise, all Baileys habitually shake their fists when referring to the Johnsons. Having long looked forward to getting a superpower so that he too can battle his clan’s nemeses, Rafter Bailey is devastated when, instead of being able to fly or something else cool, he acquires the “power” to strike a match on soft polyester. But when hated classmate Juanita Johnson turns up newly endowed with a similarly bogus power and, against all family tradition, they compare notes, it becomes clear that something fishy is going on. Both families regard themselves as the heroes and their rivals as the villains. Someone has been inciting them to fight each other. Worse yet, that someone has apparently developed a device that turns real superpowers into silly ones. Teaching themselves on the fly how to get past their prejudice and work together, Rafter, his little brother, Benny, and Juanita follow a well-laid-out chain of clues and deductions to the climactic discovery of a third, genuinely nefarious family, the Joneses, and a fiendishly clever scheme to dispose of all the Baileys and Johnsons at once. Can they carry the day?
A solid debut: fluent, funny and eminently sequel-worthy. (Adventure. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-06-220961-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
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