A satisfying arc, from sadness to dawning hope and strength.
A glum boy wants to stay in his bedroom with his turtles.
Twelve-year-old Will stole his turtles from nature, including one he knows perfectly well is endangered, but he needs them to help him feel calm while he’s hiding. Outside of his bedroom, schoolmates tease him for a mild facial disfigurement—calling him Turtle Boy not because of his pets but because of his chin, which is slowly receding—while Mom and Rabbi Harris pressure him to prepare for his bar mitzvah. A bar mitzvah community-service assignment forces him to befriend dying teen RJ, which gives Will flashbacks to when Dad died when Will was 4 and flash-forward fears to Will’s upcoming facial surgery (for medical reasons, not cosmetic). With a light touch and occasional humor (can a Jewish turtle eat ham? What if he’s Reform?), Wolkenstein successfully weaves together Will’s gloom and avoidance, grief (portrayed, appropriately, as distinct from depression), emotional progress, and Jewish practice. Will’s friendship with RJ and taking on of RJ’s bucket list—including a roller coaster, a middle school dance, a loud concert, and a pet (can an endangered turtle live in a hospital?)—as proxy grants Will a new centeredness and kick-ass drummer skills; it’s too bad that the life-lessons-from-dying-friend plot is such a cliché. Will and most characters seem white by default, with some diversity among secondary characters.
A satisfying arc, from sadness to dawning hope and strength. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-12157-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
On equal footing with a garden-variety potato.
The new kid in school endures becoming the school mascot.
Ben Hardy has never cared for potatoes, and this distaste has become a barrier to adjusting to life in his new Idaho town. His school’s mascot is the Spud, and after a series of misfortunes, Ben is enlisted to don the potato costume and cheer on his school’s team. Ben balances his duties as a life-sized potato against his desperate desire to hide the fact that he’s the dork in the suit. After all, his cute new crush, Jayla, wouldn’t be too impressed to discover Ben’s secret. The ensuing novel is a fairly boilerplate middle–grade narrative: snarky tween protagonist, the crush that isn’t quite what she seems, and a pair of best friends that have more going on than our hero initially believes. The author keeps the novel moving quickly, pushing forward with witty asides and narrative momentum so fast that readers won’t really mind that the plot’s spine is one they’ve encountered many times before. Once finished, readers will feel little resonance and move on to the next book in their to-read piles, but in the moment the novel is pleasant enough. Ben, Jayla, and Ben’s friend Hunter are white while Ellie, Ben’s other good pal, is Latina.
On equal footing with a garden-variety potato. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: March 24, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-11866-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Energizing and compassionate.
An aspiring transgender Junior Olympian swimmer finds the strength and pride in his identity to race toward his dreams in this debut coming-of-age novel by groundbreaking trans athlete Bailar.
Starting over after his abusive and discriminatory swim coach excluded him from the team, Obie Chang, a biracial (White/Korean) transgender boy worries about catching up to the other boys and proving that he is “man enough.” Although his family supports him, one of his best friends at school and the pool has turned into his biggest bully, and the other is drifting away toward the mean, popular girls. As he dives from the blocks into the challenging waters of seventh grade and swims toward his goal of qualifying for the Junior Olympics, Obie discovers belonging in his community and in himself. Affirming adults—including his parents and grandparents, a new swim coach, and his favorite teacher—play significant supporting roles by offering encouragement without pressure, centering Obie’s feelings, and validating Obie’s right to set his own boundaries. Vulnerable first-person narration explores Obie’s internal conflict about standing up for himself and his desire to connect to his Korean heritage through his relationship with Halmoni, his paternal grandmother. A romance with Charlie, a cisgender biracial (Cuban/White) girl, is gentle and privacy-affirming. Short chapters and the steady pace of external tension balance moments of rumination, grounding them in the ongoing action of Obie’s experiences.
Energizing and compassionate. (author's note, resources, glossary) (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-37946-2
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 7, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
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