Full of heart and hope.
A young man grows up in the Dominican Republic with ambitions to play baseball while a young girl in Minnesota finds the world both bigger and more encouraging when she becomes his fan.
Brown-skinned Rafael falls in love with baseball in his hometown of San Pedro de Macoris. He plays in the neighborhood with a sock-wrapped stone for a ball and a stick for a bat and later in the nearby campo. Scaletta offers glimpses of the risks that baseball can bring in the Dominican Republic, where boys and struggling families hitch wagons to far-off stars. Twelve-year-old Maya’s white, middle-class Twin Cities family includes teen sister Grace, an aspiring sports writer. When Rafael, now grown, kindly autographs Grace’s ball at a spring-training game, Maya finds herself watching him closely and cheering him on, finding solace and connection in baseball. Maya worries about the health of the planet. Her summer project to grow a patch of prairie in her backyard to attract and shelter pollinators—bees—is painfully derailed by an insecticide made by her father’s company. Scaletta deftly weaves worry, optimism, and determination together in Rafael’s struggle to succeed and Maya’s grappling with love for her father. The tight focus on the emotional lives of his protagonists in these connecting narratives inspires genuine feeling for each.
Full of heart and hope. (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: April 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8075-6742-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
A thrilling, action-packed journey filled with heart, bravery, and ghostly exploits.
An ocean-dwelling ghost girl confronts powerful forces.
Graciela is dead. She fell from a cliff into the ocean in a terrible accident, only to awaken as a ghost in an underwater community of spirits—souls of those who have died at sea. Her Guide and friend, Amina, teaches her how to navigate this new existence, from performing duties that make “the living world more bearable by keeping the sea in a delicate balance,” to the rules that protect them from the living. Amina dreams of joining the Almas, powerful spirits who guard the ocean’s secrets from the castle Salemúria, but Graciela is desperate for Amina to stay with her. Meanwhile, Jorge Leon, a boy from a long line of blacksmiths, is trapped by his brutish parents in a life of cruelty. His only joy is crafting whimsical toys from metal scraps. When Jorge discovers a sinister harpoon forged by his treasure-hunting ancestor—one capable of killing sea ghosts—he attempts to render it harmless but accidentally sets off a dangerous chain of events. When Graciela’s and Jorge’s paths cross, they must work together to confront and defeat evil forces. With breathtaking underwater worldbuilding and eerie details, Medina’s latest immerses readers in Graciela’s ghostly realm, and they’ll root for the unlikely duo on their perilous quest. The Balbussos’ hauntingly beautiful illustrations enhance the story. The characters and setting evoke Spanish and Portuguese cultural influences.
A thrilling, action-packed journey filled with heart, bravery, and ghostly exploits. (map, color guide, glossary) (Fantasy. 9-13)Pub Date: July 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781536219456
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Compelling and atmospheric.
Twelve-year-old Mexican American Lula longs to speak out and stand up against oppression in 1960s Delano, California.
Lula lives with her migrant farmworker family in bedbug-infested barracks. Her older sister, Concha, loves school just like Lula does; big brother Rafa works the fields with Mamá and Papá while youngest siblings Gabi and Martín tag along. Papá drinks, has an unpredictable temper, and only shows love to the littlest ones. Lula dreams of being able to make Papá smile. When Mamá becomes gravely ill, she’s turned away from the emergency room due to lack of money. A local curandera thinks she’s been poisoned by pesticides used in the fields and treats her with herbs. At school, Lula befriends Leonor, a Filipina and Mexican American girl, and is inspired by her powerful voice and grit. Leonor’s family is involved with the Filipino strikers’ union, the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee. The AWOC are recruiting the Mexican National Farm Worker’s Association, led by Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chávez, to join them in striking for better wages and conditions. This introspective novel with a well-developed sense of place features free verse in varied layouts that maintain visual interest. The character development is strong; as Papá is influenced by Chávez, who speaks of nonviolence, his behaviors change. Lula shows tenacity as her seeds of potential are nourished.
Compelling and atmospheric. (author’s note, further reading) (Verse historical fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-40660-1
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
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