A fine, honest and heartfelt coming-of-age tale.
Nola has been best friends her entire life with her next-door neighbors, the three Swift brothers. Now, in response to their father’s desertion, the brothers have changed.
Brian, older than Nola, Kevin, a fair bit younger, and Canaan, just her age and her “best-best friend,” have seemed like the most perfect of buddies till now. After their father abruptly leaves, Brian soldiers on, filling in for his depressed mother, before he too is overwhelmed. Kevin, always a chatterbox, becomes mute, and worse, angry Canaan is now hanging around with the neighborhood bullies, adopting their brutal ways and even betraying Nola. Determined to help, Nola hatches a childish plan to find Mr. Swift and convince him to return home. Interweaving Nola’s memories—scenes from happier times are italicized to distinguish them from the present-day narrative—Keplinger skillfully creates a depth to these friendships that have defined Nola’s childhood. These scenes go beyond providing the background for their complex relationships, especially with Canaan; they also begin to offer Nola some insight into why the brothers have changed so dramatically. Everything else is changing as well, as Nola faces the transition to middle school, her mother plans remarriage, and a move is envisioned. Realistically, there’s no easy solution; the conclusion doesn’t sugarcoat the pangs of growing up.
A fine, honest and heartfelt coming-of-age tale. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-56200-3
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014
Brava!
From award winner Telgemeier (Smile, 2010), a pitch-perfect graphic novel portrayal of a middle school musical, adroitly capturing the drama both on and offstage.
Seventh-grader Callie Marin is over-the-moon to be on stage crew again this year for Eucalyptus Middle School’s production of Moon over Mississippi. Callie's just getting over popular baseball jock and eighth-grader Greg, who crushed her when he left Callie to return to his girlfriend, Bonnie, the stuck-up star of the play. Callie's healing heart is quickly captured by Justin and Jesse Mendocino, the two very cute twins who are working on the play with her. Equally determined to make the best sets possible with a shoestring budget and to get one of the Mendocino boys to notice her, the immensely likable Callie will find this to be an extremely drama-filled experience indeed. The palpably engaging and whip-smart characterization ensures that the charisma and camaraderie run high among those working on the production. When Greg snubs Callie in the halls and misses her reference to Guys and Dolls, one of her friends assuredly tells her, "Don't worry, Cal. We’re the cool kids….He's the dork." With the clear, stylish art, the strongly appealing characters and just the right pinch of drama, this book will undoubtedly make readers stand up and cheer.
Brava! (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-32698-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
SEEN & HEARD
Some readers may feel that the resolution comes a mite too easily, but most will enjoy the journey and be pleased when...
Two sisters make an unauthorized expedition to their former hometown and in the process bring together the two parts of their divided family.
Dooley packs plenty of emotion into this eventful road trip, which takes place over the course of less than 24 hours. Twelve-year-old Ophelia, nicknamed Fella, and her 16-year-old sister, Zoey Grace, aka Zany, are the daughters of a lesbian couple, Shannon and Lacy, who could not legally marry. The two white girls squabble and share memories as they travel from West Virginia to Asheville, North Carolina, where Zany is determined to scatter Mama Lacy’s ashes in accordance with her wishes. The year is 2004, before the Supreme Court decision on gay marriage, and the girls have been separated by hostile, antediluvian custodial laws. Fella’s present-tense narration paints pictures not just of the difficulties they face on the trip (a snowstorm, car trouble, and an unlikely thief among them), but also of their lives before Mama Lacy’s illness and of the ways that things have changed since then. Breathless and engaging, Fella’s distinctive voice is convincingly childlike. The conversations she has with her sister, as well as her insights about their relationship, likewise ring true. While the girls face serious issues, amusing details and the caring adults in their lives keep the tone relatively light.
Some readers may feel that the resolution comes a mite too easily, but most will enjoy the journey and be pleased when Fella’s family figures out how to come together in a new way . (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-16504-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
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