More conventional than the opener but still a fun romp.
A fostered Jack Russell terrier brings both charm and chaos into a young do-it-yourselfer’s life.
The assertive and vivacious narrator of the opener, Squad Goals (2022), returns in a more subdued version for a round of doggy mishaps and relationship chess. The former is delivered by a winning but opportunistic pup aptly named Buster on loan from the shelter where seventh grader Mackenzie volunteers. The latter arises from finding both she and new friend Sheera have feelings for the same boy, Mackenzie's longtime buddy Dickens, and also getting caught between Sheera and Yasmin, once-close cousins driven to feud over mysterious conflicts. Then Mackenzie’s already stressed mom is laid off, which further challenges her conviction that, as a maker, she can fix anything. Drawing on both of the themes in the series name, Papademetriou gives her protagonist turbulent emotional waters to navigate and also has her crafting cute chew toys (instructions for readers included) to sell at the shelter’s upcoming Pet-A-Palooza adoption promotion. The author also introduces even more of Sheera’s extended Pakistani American family whom Mackenzie and her mother, who both read as White, are getting to know and tucks in thought-provoking commentary from Sheera about why she wears a hijab and how it feels to be judged for it. Along with canine hijinks, the load is lightened by a concluding whirl of pet adoptions, repaired relationships, and other good results.
More conventional than the opener but still a fun romp. (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-60307-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK TO SCREEN
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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