Perfect for fans of Jeff Kinney’s Wimpy Kid. Thank goodness sequels are planned.
Sixth grader Nate Wright doesn’t excel in much at P.S.38.
He’s not as smart as his best friend Francis nor as lamely funny as his other best friend Teddy, and he’s certainly not (unfortunately) successful at everything, like his annoying older sister Ellen. So when Teddy slips Nate a fortune cookie and the fortune reads “Today you will surpass all others,” Nate is stoked. Just how will he surpass all others? Every time he tries anything—like making grumpy Mr. Gavin laugh or breaking the speed-eating world record by snarfing down a mountain of slimy green beans—he ends up getting detention. This really seems more like a candidate for Worst Day Ever! Peirce skillfully and often hilariously imports his comic-strip character into a full-length story. The many comic strips, some drawn by Nate on lined paper and others featuring him as a character, and copious spot illustrations move the story along to a conclusion some may see coming but all will enjoy.
Perfect for fans of Jeff Kinney’s Wimpy Kid. Thank goodness sequels are planned. (Final art not seen.) (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-11)Pub Date: April 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-06-194434-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A fun-if-flimsy vehicle for science lovers.
A fifth grade girl brings her love of chemistry to the school play.
Kate loves science so much she’s determined to breathe fire. Of course she knows that she needs adult supervision, and so, with her science teacher’s help, Kate demonstrates an experiment with cornstarch and a blowtorch that nearly sets her teacher’s cactus on fire. Consequences ensue. Can someone who loves science as much as Kate does find pleasure spending her fall break at drama camp? It turns out that even the school play—Dragons vs. Unicorns—needs a chemist, though, and Kate saves the day with glue and glitter. She’s sabotaged along the way, but everything is fine after Kate and her frenemy agree to communicate better (an underwhelming response to escalating bullying). Doodles decorate the pages; steps for the one experiment described that can be done at home—making glittery unicorn-horn glue—are included. The most exciting experiments depicted, though, include flames or liquid nitrogen and could only be done with the help of a friendly science teacher. Biberdorf teaches chemistry at the University of Texas and also performs science-education programs as “Kate the Chemist”; in addition to giving her protagonist her name and enthusiasm, she also seems represented in Kate-the-character’s love of the fictional YouTube personality “Dr. Caroline.” Kate and her nemesis are white; Kate’s best friends are black and South Asian.
A fun-if-flimsy vehicle for science lovers. (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-11655-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A timely, well-constructed explanation brought down to a level anyone can comprehend.
When Mrs. Barrington rolls out a poster displaying all the U.S. presidents’ portraits, the observing and bold Grace Campbell asks, “Where are the GIRLS?”
Learning from her teacher that a female head of state is yet to be, Grace decides she will become the first woman president—of her grade, that is. Running against her rival Thomas Cobb in Mr. Waller’s class proves to be more challenging than anticipated. Through the process, Grace campaigns diligently, creates platforms and learns how the Electoral College operates. DiPucchio demonstrates the intricacies of the process with each boy and girl representing one of the states and their corresponding electoral votes. Creating a bit of fait-accompli drama, she has readers assume the favored will be “the best man for the job” Thomas Cobb, since all the boys hold a few more electoral votes than the girls. But true democracy prevails when the last state of Wyoming casts its three remaining votes for “the best person” and Grace is declared the winner. Pham’s deeply toned opaque and textured paintings of a multicultural group of children bring out the various details of each phase of a campaign.
A timely, well-constructed explanation brought down to a level anyone can comprehend. (author’s note) (Picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-7868-3919-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2007
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