An engaging, accessible graphic early reader in both composition and message.
A Taiwanese American girl works through several lunchbox moments.
Geraldine Pu loves the surprise Taiwanese lunches her grandmother makes her. She also adores the smiling purple lunchbox she calls Biandang, who faithfully keeps her food warm and occasionally expresses a few thoughts. Geraldine is delighted at school one day to see that Amah has packed her yellow curry for lunch. Her enthusiasm is quickly dampened when new classmate Nico catches a whiff of her curry and exclaims, “EW!” This causes the whole lunch table to join in piling on criticisms. The microaggressions take their toll. The next day Geraldine’s classmates—a diverse bunch—mock her yet again about her lunch being different. After this, she decides to skip eating despite the temptation of the delectable bao. To top it all off, on the bus the kids make fun of her surname, Pu. Once home she throws her beloved Biandang, with immediate regrets. A new challenge arises in the simple, evenly paced plot when Amah packs her stinky tofu, known for its potent smell. Despite her apprehensions, Geraldine realizes her own power to stand up for herself and others when Nico mocks Jamaican classmate Deven’s lunch. Chang offers brightly colored comics textured with scribbled panel borders, splotches of color, and dotted splats of ink. A guide to reading a graphic novel, glossary, recipe, and note explaining Taiwanese culture are included.
An engaging, accessible graphic early reader in both composition and message. (Graphic early reader. 5-9)Pub Date: June 29, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-8469-6
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Simon Spotlight
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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