First kisses, near misses, and a stowaway hamster distinguish this romp.
The annual ski trip provides plenty of opportunities for romance, friendship, and a bit of magic for a pair of young English teens.
After two years at White Lodge Valley Academy, 13-year-old Mouse returns to Bluecoats School for Girls and forgotten friends just in time for the annual school trip to the French Alps. She reunites with Connie, a wacky friend with magical aspirations, and moody, cool Keira. But when her former best friend, Lauren, snubs her and questions the reason she was asked to leave ballet school, Mouse is humiliated. Meanwhile, Jack, also 13, and his friends (and band mates) are staying at the same hotel. They would like nothing more than to find a name for their band and some girls to kiss. When Jack and Mouse meet, it is love at first sight, but they are quickly pulled apart by misunderstandings and an uber-popular French pop artist who has eyes for Mouse. Filled with awkward misunderstandings, mistaken identities, and missed opportunities, Mouse and Jack’s attraction is more than romantic. His kindness and support help Mouse to recover her love for dance. Likewise, Mouse’s encouragement helps Jack find the courage to be the band frontman he wants to be. Told in alternating narratives by the principals, this is adolescent drama at its best. The cast is nearly all white, with diversity limited to casual mentions of secondary characters.
First kisses, near misses, and a stowaway hamster distinguish this romp. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Dec. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-0182-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2018
Brava!
From award winner Telgemeier (Smile, 2010), a pitch-perfect graphic novel portrayal of a middle school musical, adroitly capturing the drama both on and offstage.
Seventh-grader Callie Marin is over-the-moon to be on stage crew again this year for Eucalyptus Middle School’s production of Moon over Mississippi. Callie's just getting over popular baseball jock and eighth-grader Greg, who crushed her when he left Callie to return to his girlfriend, Bonnie, the stuck-up star of the play. Callie's healing heart is quickly captured by Justin and Jesse Mendocino, the two very cute twins who are working on the play with her. Equally determined to make the best sets possible with a shoestring budget and to get one of the Mendocino boys to notice her, the immensely likable Callie will find this to be an extremely drama-filled experience indeed. The palpably engaging and whip-smart characterization ensures that the charisma and camaraderie run high among those working on the production. When Greg snubs Callie in the halls and misses her reference to Guys and Dolls, one of her friends assuredly tells her, "Don't worry, Cal. We’re the cool kids….He's the dork." With the clear, stylish art, the strongly appealing characters and just the right pinch of drama, this book will undoubtedly make readers stand up and cheer.
Brava! (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-32698-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
SEEN & HEARD
An endearing protagonist runs the first, fast leg of Reynolds' promising relay.
Castle “Ghost” Cranshaw feels like he’s been running ever since his dad pulled that gun on him and his mom—and used it.
His dad’s been in jail three years now, but Ghost still feels the trauma, which is probably at the root of the many “altercations” he gets into at middle school. When he inserts himself into a practice for a local elite track team, the Defenders, he’s fast enough that the hard-as-nails coach decides to put him on the team. Ghost is surprised to find himself caring enough about being on the team that he curbs his behavior to avoid “altercations.” But Ma doesn’t have money to spare on things like fancy running shoes, so Ghost shoplifts a pair that make his feet feel impossibly light—and his conscience correspondingly heavy. Ghost’s narration is candid and colloquial, reminiscent of such original voices as Bud Caldwell and Joey Pigza; his level of self-understanding is both believably childlike and disarming in its perception. He is self-focused enough that secondary characters initially feel one-dimensional, Coach in particular, but as he gets to know them better, so do readers, in a way that unfolds naturally and pleasingly. His three fellow “newbies” on the Defenders await their turns to star in subsequent series outings. Characters are black by default; those few white people in Ghost’s world are described as such.
An endearing protagonist runs the first, fast leg of Reynolds' promising relay. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5015-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
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