An inspiring children’s book about reaching for one’s dreams.
First-time author McDonald, a three-time cancer survivor, crafts an uplifting children’s story that aims to give hope and inspiration to young people dealing with cancer.
A grandmother tells her life story to her grandchildren in this optimistic book about finding one’s purpose while fighting a dangerous illness. The story is simple and easy to understand, and there’s a quiet artfulness to Nana’s voice. At one point, she tells how she found out that she had cancer for the first time, when she was 3 years old: “[The doctor] felt my tummy and said, ‘You have a Wilms tumor and need to have an operation....But this was a long time ago, and no one ever said the word ‘cancer’ or talked about it. I was just told I had a tumor and its name was Wilms.” But although she receives treatment and spends significant time in the hospital, it never deters her from setting out to do what she wants to do—dance. Nana also finds strength and comfort in religion, which plays a big role in her recovery. The cancer returns when Nana is a young woman, but she has already achieved her goal of a dancing career and has traveled in Europe and started a family; once again, her faith and perseverance keep her spirits up. Now that she’s an old woman, Nana says, the cancer has returned for a third time, but she wants to make sure that her grandchildren know that no matter what obstacles life sets in front of them, they should never let it get them down. McDonald’s prose doesn’t shy away from the reality and danger of cancer, but it isn’t glum. This inspiring story and the bright, happy illustrations are likely to appeal to even very young children.
An inspiring children’s book about reaching for one’s dreams.Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2010
ISBN: 978-1449066161
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Xlibris
Review Posted Online: July 11, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Quite possibly the best teen novel featuring a girl questioning her sexuality written in years.
Big-town girl stuck in a small-town world full of lies falls for another girl.
Astrid's parents moved both her and her sister away from their New York City home years ago to a small town symbolically called Unity Valley. Since then her mom has drunk the society Kool-Aid, and her dad takes mental vacations in the garage to smoke weed. Astrid doesn't feel like she fits in anywhere. Two friends keep her sane: her closeted BFF, Kristina, and Dee, a star hockey player she met while working for a local catering company. Sparks fly between Astrid and Dee, causing Astrid to feel even more distanced and confused. Meanwhile, Kristina and her boyfriend/beard Justin use Astrid as cover for their own same-sex sweethearts, adding more fuel to the fire. King has created an intense, fast-paced, complex and compelling novel about sexuality, politics and societal norms that will force readers outside their comfort zones. The whole town—even the alleged gay characters—buy into the Stepford-like ideal, and King elegantly uses Plato’s "Allegory of the Cave" to help readers understand life inside and outside of the box. Only Astrid knows what she wants. She’s in love with Dee, but she's not sure if she’s a lesbian. She’s ignoring all of the labels and focusing on what she feels.
Quite possibly the best teen novel featuring a girl questioning her sexuality written in years. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-316-19468-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
Dynamically reckons with the real-life ramifications of someone who refuses to grow up.
A grim, modern-day manifestation of the Peter Pan tale drawn from subtle, dark elements in the original text.
Wendy Darling is a sweet, naïve 17-year-old who just moved to Chicago. One night, Peter Pan comes through her open window, expecting an empty house and instead becoming enamored with the girl inside. Wendy herself is immediately enchanted by Peter, whose boyish charm and good looks convince her to join him for a night on the town along with his spunky and snappy ex-girlfriend Tinkerbelle. During the course of a single night, Wendy runs into more of Peter’s connections, including a collection of orphans he houses off the grid, a Detective Hook eager to bring him down, and other counterparts from the source material (including the racist caricature of a Native girl, gracefully realized here as a three-dimensional young Ojibwe woman). But as the night goes on and Peter’s facade grows more transparent, the frightful truth at his center threatens the safety of everyone involved. Eschewing literal magic, Ancrum’s remix is spellbinding and psychologically compelling despite a slower-moving middle. The haunting truth surrounding Peter is well earned and disturbing, a perfect—and bleak—transformation of the character for the 21st century. Wendy is Black, Peter and Tink are White, and the supporting cast represents myriad racial and queer identities.
Dynamically reckons with the real-life ramifications of someone who refuses to grow up. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: June 22, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-26526-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Imprint
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
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