A simple, repetitive story about fostering self-worth.
This illustrated story, based on the author’s experience with her own son, aims to teach young readers that each person is special and unique.
As the book opens, an unnamed pregnant woman excitedly anticipates the birth of her son. She knows, even then, that “No other like him would exist in the universe.” As he grows up, she loves to tell him stories, encouraging him to become “anything he wanted to be.” The boy starts school and does well, earning awards for his good work and making his mother proud. After he begins high school, however, he begins to feel lonely and sad, and although his mother continues to tell him that he’s special, he stops listening to her. He neglects his schoolwork and changes his look in order to fit in better at school. He ends up in a coma after a bicycle accident. His mother visits him every day, telling him that he’s special. The boy recovers, and his mother encourages him as he works toward rehabilitation. He goes to college, gets married to a nice woman, and has a son of his own, whom he tells, “You are very special. No other like you exists in the universe.” The new father later becomes a writer who tells other children stories of affirmation. The text is paired with the author’s realistic illustrations, colored in mostly subdued tones, which hew closely to the events of the text. The text is highly repetitious, and variations on the phrase “You are special. No other like you exists in the universe” appear on nearly every page to drive that point home. However, this repetition will likely appeal to very young readers. The story as a whole, however, is rather text-heavy, which may cause inexperienced readers to lose focus. Despite the book’s title, the text only mentions God a couple times, without reference to a specific religion or denomination.
A simple, repetitive story about fostering self-worth.Pub Date: Jan. 9, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-67961-070-7
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This delightful debut welcomes readers in like a house filled with love.
A 13-year-old biracial girl longs to build the house of her dreams.
For Lou Bulosan-Nelson, normal is her “gigantic extended family squished into Lola’s for every holiday imaginable.” She shares a bedroom with her Filipina mother, Minda—a former interior-design major and current nurse-to-be—in Lola Celina’s San Francisco home. From her deceased white father, Michael, Lou inherited “not-so-Filipino features,” his love for architecture, and some land. Lou’s quietude implies her keen eye for details, but her passion for creating with her hands resonates loudly. Pining for something to claim as her own, she plans to construct a house from the ground up. When her mom considers moving out of state for a potential job and Lou’s land is at risk of being auctioned off, Lou stays resilient, gathering support from both friends and family to make her dream a reality. Respicio authentically depicts the richness of Philippine culture, incorporating Filipino language, insights into Lou’s family history, and well-crafted descriptions of customs, such as the birdlike Tinikling dance and eating kamayan style (with one’s hands), throughout. Lou’s story gives voice to Filipino youth, addressing cultural differences, the importance of bayanihan (community), and the true meaning of home.
This delightful debut welcomes readers in like a house filled with love. (Fiction. 8-13)Pub Date: June 12, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-1794-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
A wonderfully charming tale of family and sisters that anyone can bond with.
Two sisters who are constantly at odds take a family road trip that covers more ground—both literally and figuratively—than they expect.
After begging her parents for a sister, Raina gets more than she bargained for once Amara is born. From the moment she was brought home, Amara hasn’t been quite the cuddly playmate that Raina had hoped. As the years pass, the girls bicker constantly and apparently couldn’t be more unalike: Raina spends her time indoors underneath her headphones, and Amara loves animals and the outdoors. The girls, their mother and their little brother all pack up to drive to a family reunion, and it seems like the trip’s just going to be more of the same, with the girls incessantly picking on each other all the way from San Francisco to Colorado. However, when the trip doesn’t go quite as planned—for a number of reasons—the girls manage to find some common ground. Told in then-and-now narratives that are easily discernable in the graphic format, Telgemeier’s tale is laugh-out-loud funny (especially the story about the snake incident) and quietly serious all at once. Her rounded, buoyant art coupled with a masterful capacity for facial expressions complements the writing perfectly. Fans of her previous books Smile (2010) and Drama (2012) shouldn’t miss this one; it’s a winner.
A wonderfully charming tale of family and sisters that anyone can bond with. (Graphic memoir. 7-13)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-54059-9
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
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