A shy, quiet drummer looks for her inner Rebel Girl at rock camp.
The day before 13-year-old Melissa “Melly” Goodwin departs for Camp Rockaway, her parents make a heartbreaking announcement: They’re splitting up. At least Melly doesn’t have to deal alone; her best friend, Olivia Mendoza, a bassist, will be with her. But when Olivia deserts Melly for her crush (a boy named Noel), Melly has to go it alone. She finds herself confiding in someone who isn’t her best friend. Could carefree guitarist Adeline become more than just a new pal? She certainly makes Melly feel like her heart is full of buzzing bees. When Noel dumps Olivia, she turns back to Melly, but jealousy drives a wedge between the besties. Can Melly make room for both her best friend and a potential girlfriend? Can she step out from behind her drum kit and find the strength she needs to face the music at home? Narrator Melly is a complex blend of anger, curiosity, and creativity, appealingly laying her emotions bare for readers. Puns such as “Joan Jetty” (the boathouse) and “B-flat” (the afternoon rest period) bring character to the camp setting, which is also naturally diverse; Melly is white, Olivia is implied Latina, and Adeline is not the only brown-skinned camper.
Fresh and exhilarating, a welcome addition to the growing middle-grade genre of girls who like girls. (Fiction. 8-14)Pub Date: June 26, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-279114-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS
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BOOK REVIEW
With Ivan’s movie out this year from Disney, expect great interest—it will be richly rewarded.
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Tiny, sassy Bob the dog, friend of The One and Only Ivan (2012), returns to tell his tale.
Wisecracking Bob, who is a little bit Chihuahua among other things, now lives with his girl, Julia, and her parents. Happily, her father works at Wildworld Zoological Park and Sanctuary, the zoo where Bob’s two best friends, Ivan the gorilla and Ruby the elephant, live, so Bob gets to visit and catch up with them regularly. Due to an early betrayal, Bob doesn’t trust humans (most humans are good only for their thumbs); he fears he’s going soft living with Julia, and he’s certain he is a Bad Dog—as in “not a good representative of my species.” On a visit to the zoo with a storm threatening, Bob accidentally falls into the gorilla enclosure just as a tornado strikes. So that’s what it’s like to fly. In the storm’s aftermath, Bob proves to everyone (and finally himself) that there is a big heart in that tiny chest…and a brave one too. With this companion, Applegate picks up where her Newbery Medal winner left off, and fans will be overjoyed to ride along in the head of lovable, self-deprecating Bob on his storm-tossed adventure. His wry doggy observations and attitude are pitch perfect (augmented by the canine glossary and Castelao’s picture dictionary of dog postures found in the frontmatter). Gorilla Ivan described Julia as having straight, black hair in the previous title, and Castelao's illustrations in that volume showed her as pale-skinned. (Finished art not available for review.)
With Ivan’s movie out this year from Disney, expect great interest—it will be richly rewarded. (afterword) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299131-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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Moving and poetic.
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A motherless boy is forced to abandon his domesticated fox when his father decides to join soldiers in an approaching war.
Twelve-year-old Peter found his loyal companion, Pax, as an orphaned kit while still grieving his own mother’s death. Peter’s difficult and often harsh father said he could keep the fox “for now” but five years later insists the boy leave Pax by the road when he takes Peter to his grandfather’s house, hundreds of miles away. Peter’s journey back to Pax and Pax’s steadfastness in waiting for Peter’s return result in a tale of survival, intrinsic connection, and redemption. The battles between warring humans in the unnamed conflict remain remote, but the oncoming wave of deaths is seen through Pax’s eyes as woodland creatures are blown up by mines. While Pax learns to negotiate the complications of surviving in the wild and relating to other foxes, Peter breaks his foot and must learn to trust a seemingly eccentric woman named Vola who battles her own ghosts of war. Alternating chapters from the perspectives of boy and fox are perfectly paced and complementary. Only Peter, Pax, Vola, and three of Pax’s fox companions are named, conferring a spare, fablelike quality. Every moment in the graceful, fluid narrative is believable. Klassen’s cover art has a sense of contained, powerful stillness. (Interior illustrations not seen.)
Moving and poetic. (Animal fantasy. 9-13)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-237701-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2015
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