A sweet and satisfying read about friendship, sisterhood, and change.
When 12-year-old Florence Valandhingam is forced to jointly compete with her archenemy in the local Honey Festival, she learns important lessons about friendship, trust, and belonging.
Flor is having the worst summer ever. Her best friend, Brooke, is going away to band camp just when the two of them are old enough to enjoy a modicum of freedom. Her parents, who used to get along, can’t stop fighting. Worst of all, Flor is forced to jointly compete with Candice, her nemesis, for the title of queen at the Honey Festival. At first, Flor is sure that their history will make it impossible to compete: When Florence beat out Candice for the title of queen in third grade, Candice told everyone it was because the largely white town had to pick a person of color or biracial Flor’s parents—her dad is white and her mom, South Asian—would sue. But as the two girls get to know each other, Flor starts to believe that she and Candice might not be the worst team—especially when both of them realize that they are competing not to beat the other entrants but for the futures of their families. Narrator Flor’s voice strikes just the right balance of naiveté and sarcasm, rendering it authentic and fun to read. Wientge seamlessly weaves issues like racism, economic stability, and environmental devastation into a clear, engaging plot. While the book moves at a good pace, the last third feels a tad rushed—a small quibble.
A sweet and satisfying read about friendship, sisterhood, and change. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3815-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The whimsy is slight—the story is not—and both its interest and its vocabulary are for the youngest members of this age...
Beverly Cleary has written all kinds of books (the most successful ones about the irrepressible Henry Huggins) but this is her first fantasy.
Actually it's plain clothes fantasy grounded in the everyday—except for the original conceit of a mouse who can talk and ride a motorcycle. A toy motorcycle, which belongs to Keith, a youngster, who comes to the hotel where Ralph lives with his family; Ralph and Keith become friends, Keith gives him a peanut butter sandwich, but finally Ralph loses the motorcycle—it goes out with the dirty linen. Both feel dreadfully; it was their favorite toy; but after Keith gets sick, and Ralph manages to find an aspirin for him in a nearby room, and the motorcycle is returned, it is left with Ralph....
The whimsy is slight—the story is not—and both its interest and its vocabulary are for the youngest members of this age group. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 22, 1965
ISBN: 0380709244
Page Count: 180
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 16, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1965
BOOK TO SCREEN
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