As utterly herself as ever, Clarice Bean Tuesday returns, to chatter on while riding an emotional roller coaster to close out her school year. Along with wondering what’s up with classmate Karl Wrenbury (who’s acting out in response to family problems), and earning a suspension by taking the rap for one of his misdeeds, she has many more issues. She frets about an upcoming spelling bee; continues to dote on her book/TV heroine Ruby Redfort; ruminates on what it takes to be a good writer; gets and loses the role of Liesl in a class production of The Sound of Music; and records typically droll doings in her extended family, along with encounters with teachers good and bad—her regular one, Mrs. Wilberton, being a painfully vivid example of the latter. Child kicks Clarice Bean’s already vivacious narrative up a notch with lots of small, quick ink sketches, typeface changes and polysyllabic study words (some of them made up), then closes on a delirious high note as Clarice unexpectedly lands a bit part opposite Ruby Redfort herself. Judy Moody and Junie B. Jones fans will happily dive into the observations of this “exceptionordinarily” entertaining middle-grader. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-7636-2813-1
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Wholesome? Yes. Proper hard work and teamwork values in place? Yes. Paint by numbers? Oh, yes.
Olympic gold medalist Morgan runs down the celebrity-sports-fiction checklist in this series opener: New school? Check. New friends? Check. New boyfriend? Maybe! New soccer team? Check. Inspire said team to take on snooty archrival private school? Check.
Quickly shedding perfunctory initial reservations, Devin sails into seventh grade at Kentville Middle School, makes instant connections in class and at Kangaroos soccer tryouts. She meets requisite bully Mirabelle at the latter, then goes on to be elected team co-captain. After a disastrous start to the season, she helps her team’s members and even the less-than-rigorous coach land on the same winning page. Following a sleepover, a dance, team-building drills and exercises, pep rallies, minor problem-solving and motivational strategizing, Devin prods the Kangaroos into position to beat the haughty Pinewood Panthers in a climactic rematch while also schooling Mirabelle, who has jumped ship to join the rival team.
Wholesome? Yes. Proper hard work and teamwork values in place? Yes. Paint by numbers? Oh, yes. (soccer glossary) (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: May 7, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-8570-9
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to...
A group of talking farm animals catches wind of the farm owner’s intention to burn the barn (with them in it) for insurance money and hatches a plan to flee.
Bond begins briskly—within the first 10 pages, barn cat Burdock has overheard Dewey Baxter’s nefarious plan, and by Page 17, all of the farm animals have been introduced and Burdock is sharing the terrifying news. Grady, Dewey’s (ever-so-slightly) more principled brother, refuses to go along, but instead of standing his ground, he simply disappears. This leaves the animals to fend for themselves. They do so by relying on their individual strengths and one another. Their talents and personalities match their species, bringing an element of realism to balance the fantasy elements. However, nothing can truly compensate for the bland horror of the premise. Not the growing sense of family among the animals, the serendipitous intervention of an unknown inhabitant of the barn, nor the convenient discovery of an alternate home. Meanwhile, Bond’s black-and-white drawings, justly compared to those of Garth Williams, amplify the sense of dissonance. Charming vignettes and single- and double-page illustrations create a pastoral world into which the threat of large-scale violence comes as a shock.
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to ponder the awkward coincidences that propel the plot. (Animal fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-33217-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
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