A funny, feel-good tale.
A K-pop-obsessed tween in London swaps bodies with her strict school principal.
Eleven-year-old Skylar Smith is obsessed with the South Korean boy band AZ8. Skylar and her environmentally conscious best friend, Dana, buy their posters and photocards, learn their dance routines, and watch their variety show. But Skylar has a run-in with Ms. Callus, the mean principal of Saint Margaret’s Academy (school motto: “Achieve or hang your head in shame”). As a fed-up Skylar argues with Ms. Callus, a weird flash of green light engulfs them both, and they wake up in one another’s bodies with no idea how to switch back. Skylar, inhabiting her 71-year-old body, enters a dance video in a contest for tickets to see an upcoming AZ8 concert—and goes viral. Capitalizing on her new reputation for being fun, she also uses her adult powers to make changes at Saint Margaret’s, although running a school is way more stressful than she expected. With Dana’s help, Skylar must find a way to fix things before she’s stuck as Ms. Callus forever. This comical, lighthearted story is an ode to K-pop fandom, but the hilarious jokes and situations will entertain readers unfamiliar with that world. As in many body-swapping stories, themes of selfishness, empathy, and gaining an appreciation for another person’s troubles feature prominently. Skylar and Ms. Callus present white; there’s ethnic diversity in the supporting cast.
A funny, feel-good tale. (Skylar’s K-pop Dictionary) (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781536241129
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Walker US/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
Funny and endearing, though incomplete characterizations provoke questions.
An isolated class of misfits and a teacher on the edge of retirement are paired together for a year of (supposed) failure.
Zachary Kermit, a 55-year-old teacher, has been haunted for the last 27 years by a student cheating scandal that has earned him the derision of his colleagues and killed his teaching spirit. So when he is assigned to teach the Self-Contained Special Eighth-Grade Class—a dumping ground for “the Unteachables,” students with “behavior issues, learning problems, juvenile delinquents”—he is unfazed, as he is only a year away from early retirement. His relationship with his seven students—diverse in temperament, circumstance, and ability—will be one of “uncomfortable roommates” until June. But when Mr. Kermit unexpectedly stands up for a student, the kids of SCS-8 notice his sense of “justice and fairness.” Mr. Kermit finds he may even care a little about them, and they start to care back in their own way, turning a corner and bringing along a few ghosts from Mr. Kermit’s past. Writing in the alternating voices of Mr. Kermit, most of his students, and two administrators, Korman spins a narrative of redemption and belief in exceeding self-expectations. Naming conventions indicate characters of different ethnic backgrounds, but the book subscribes to a white default. The two students who do not narrate may be students of color, and their characterizations subtly—though arguably inadequately—demonstrate the danger of preconceptions.
Funny and endearing, though incomplete characterizations provoke questions. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-256388-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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