Starting with zigzag lines on paper, Hughes's book proceeds through musical notes, the ebb and flow of water, a man batting a ball, and a child spinning a top to show how all the world is connected by rhythm. People can control the way they paint, sing, or move, but they can't control the rhythms of their heartbeat any more than they can help being connected by those rhythms to all the other rhythms of the earth, the stars, and the universe. This message has implication within implications, and that it would be an exciting idea for discussion in the classroom is no accident (Hughes developed the approach while teaching at a Chicago Laboratory School). The new blue-gray and orange illustrations are perfectly in keeping with the period in which the book was first published (as The First Book of Rhythms, 1954); the introduction by Wynton Marsalis gives present-day star value and may lure readers who, ordinarily, wouldn't open a work of nonfiction, or any book at all. For Hughes's teenage fans and adults, what really snaps the book into a different focus is the historical overview of his work, particularly this one, presented by Robert G. O'Meally in the afterword. In a time in which society often looks back nostalgically to the postWW II America, it's good to be reminded that not even children's books were immune to the repressive influence of the McCarthy years. Thought-provoking. (Nonfiction. 8+)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-19-509856-0
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1995
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
A page-turner for soccer-mad readers, whether fans or players.
Challenges on and off the field await a 12-year-old Ohio boy who’s unexpectedly invited to attend an exclusive soccer camp in England.
Leo K. Doyle may be a star forward on his YMCA league team, but after accepting a surprising invitation from a roving scout to attend a month of highly competitive tryouts for a Premier League youth development program, he finds himself far from home and, at best, in the middle of the pack. At the London Dragons camp, Leo, who’s cued as biracial, with a white dad and brown-skinned mom, makes friends with fellow players from around the world. He also wins an anti-American bully’s grudging respect and even helps his 19-year-old coach with a sweet gesture of apology for his girlfriend. But from the outset, the focus is on “the Beautiful Game.” Without letting up on the breathless pace for a moment, Layton packs Leo’s narrative with clear descriptions of skills and techniques both basic and advanced, sapient coaching, game strategies, and intangibles (such as team chemistry) that ultimately come together to set Leo apart from his bigger, faster, stronger rivals. Following a series of hard-fought elimination matches culminating in a high-stakes final in the big stadium under the eyes of the godlike professional team, Leo flies home in time for a dizzying final twist that sets up the sequel to this first entry in Layton’s popular British series.
A page-turner for soccer-mad readers, whether fans or players. (Fiction. 8-13)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781464267109
Page Count: 306
Publisher: Sourcebooks Young Readers
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
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