Missteps don’t altogether take away from this thoughtful novel.
Two children find friendship against a backdrop of apocalypse.
Ever since Jameson O’Malley’s father left for a mission to Mars on the Christopher Columbus, their only contact is through Jameson’s Interplanetary Communication Console, a homemade audio-video transmitter. Earth is now dangerously overheated, the atmosphere destroyed due to an asteroid that’s knocked the planet’s orbit off-kilter. A successful Mars mission is humanity’s last chance. When friendless Jameson meets his new next-door neighbor, the prickly Astra Primm, he is determined to somehow forge a friendship, and the two find solace together after he learns she lost her astronaut mother on a recent Mars mission. Jameson’s mother and Astra’s father also begin to form a friendship that Jameson suspects is growing too close. When the JICC breaks down, Jameson and Astra undertake a secret mission of their own to find a much-needed replacement part. A sudden chill from Astra leads him to believe she knows a secret that everyone, including the school counselor, is keeping from Jameson. Van Dolzer uses her apocalyptic setting to highlight this story of grief, creating believable, likable child characters. Unfortunately, she undermines Jameson’s intelligence by driving the plot with an open secret only he is ignorant of. Jameson is white and Astra black, and though her initial hostility plays into the “angry black girl” stereotype (and, egregiously, her flared nostrils are compared to lima beans), she develops into a well-realized, complex character.
Missteps don’t altogether take away from this thoughtful novel. (Science fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68446-012-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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 satisfying, winning read.
Nick Hall is a bright eighth-grader who would rather do anything other than pay attention in class.
Instead he daydreams about soccer, a girl he likes, and an upcoming soccer tournament. His linguistics-professor father carefully watches his educational progress, requiring extra reading and word study, much to Nick’s chagrin and protest. Fortunately, his best friend, Coby, shares his passion for soccer—and, sadly, the unwanted attention of twin bullies in their school. Nick senses something is going on with his parents, but their announcement that they are separating is an unexpected blow: “it’s like a bombshell / drops / right in the center / of your heart / and it splatters / all across your life.” The stress leads to counseling, and his life is further complicated by injury and emergency surgery. His soccer dream derailed, Nick turns to the books he has avoided and finds more than he expected. Alexander’s highly anticipated follow-up to Newbery-winning The Crossover is a reflective narrative, with little of the first book’s explosive energy. What the mostly free-verse novel does have is a likable protagonist, great wordplay, solid teen and adult secondary characters, and a clear picture of the challenges young people face when self-identity clashes with parental expectations. The soccer scenes are vivid and will make readers wish for more, but the depiction of Nick as he unlocks his inner reader is smooth and believable.
A satisfying, winning read. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-544-57098-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
