Gary "Goon" Boone tells jokes instead of having conversations; almost everyone—parents, teachers, schoolmates—is tired of him. When a talent show with a $100 prize is announced at school, Gary decides to make his stand-up debut memorable. His parents promise him another $100 if he stops telling jokes for three weeks. For Gary this is a minor struggle; he tries to understand why other boys his age collect baseball cards, and he gains gradual acceptance in their friendly football games. Their practical joke on Gary. does help launch his career as a comedian, but it is his hard work and practice that lead to his overwhelming success at the show. Readers themselves may feel benumbed by the endless litany of bad jokes; even Sachar's talent for creating humorous situations (There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom, 1987; Sideways Stories from Wayside School, 1985—which gets a plug in this book) can't Shine through the too-familiar riddles. Still, Gary is a likable, completely good-hearted boy who turns out to be refreshingly frank about his own shortcomings. (Fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1991
ISBN: 0679833722
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Everything turns out right in this salubrious, good-natured account of everyday life in a one-room schoolhouse on an island in Maine where “the only cars were three old pickups.” Setting determines the life of nine-year-old Pru and the lives of the friends and family who surround her. She adores her teacher, Miss Sparling, and is bent on seeing that the woman does not—as have teachers in the past—leave the island after one year. In her efforts to put a good face on island living, Pru and a buddy raise money by recycling, planning to buy a Newfoundland for Miss Sparling. Every quiet episode is, by itself, smaller than a breadbox—finding a message in a bottle, making a new friend, participating in pet day at school—but they fit together neatly for a gratifying wishes-come-true ending. The amicable characters and genial tone harken back to simpler times, when afterschool activities meant discovering shells at the beach, and every sunset was an event. (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-670-88349-2
Page Count: 61
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Greed has no bounds for this bully goat and his insatiable black bag in Tompert’s tale, which is not so much cumulative as it is avaricious. On market day, Ole Goat is on the prowl; from anyone he encounters he demands their goods, or “I’ll pitch you down this mountain with a butt from my bony, bony head.” One after another, the wares belonging to owl, rabbit, and fox go into the evermore capacious black sack: “There’s always room for more. . . . I’ll never have enough,” howls Ole Goat. By the time the goat challenges a bear who has nothing but his hat to tender, the grasping creature trips over the bloat and winds up in a mud puddle. Tompert’s text offers a crisp backhand to the pox of greed, while Chwast’s artwork is highly demonstrative and engaging. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-89418-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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