by Marina Cohen ; illustrated by Yana Bogatch ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 28, 2019
A suspenseful mystery with haunting touches of fairy-tale magic.
A skeptical girl who distrusts stories discovers their value when she’s trapped in the middle of one.
The rules of logic and facts shape 12-year-old Kallie’s predictable life until she finds herself in possession of a mysterious puzzle box. Unlocking the box unleashes a set of “bewitched” bones with strange symbols on them that entangle Kallie in a story beyond her control. Throughout her journey, Kallie questions the nature of the possible and impossible as she seeks out scientific explanations for her problems from her best friend, Pole Rodriguez (the only primary character who isn’t presumed white), and the missing pieces of truth about the death of her writer mother. Anna, a new student with a wild imagination, challenges Kallie with the fanciful tales she tells about her life and helps her learn that stories provide comfort from reality even if they aren’t based in fact. Three grayscale illustrations with dark lines accompany the text in moments that correspond to the stages of the hero’s journey, which Kallie learns about in her English class. Cohen weaves together Kallie’s story with a fairy tale that follows Liah, a bone carver’s apprentice. Liah’s adventure increases the tension, builds momentum, and darkens the tone of the overall story.
A suspenseful mystery with haunting touches of fairy-tale magic. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: May 28, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-17221-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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by Jeff Kinney ; illustrated by Jeff Kinney ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 5, 2019
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
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by Jeff Kinney ; illustrated by Jeff Kinney
by Jeff Kinney ; illustrated by Jeff Kinney
by Jeff Kinney ; illustrated by Jeff Kinney
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by Jeff Kinney ; illustrated by Jeff Kinney
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SEEN & HEARD
by Raina Telgemeier ; illustrated by Raina Telgemeier ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 13, 2016
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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by Raina Telgemeier ; illustrated by Raina Telgemeier
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