by Martha Freeman ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 16, 2017
Even away from camp, the Flowerpot campers blossom.
Now back at home, the girls of Flowerpot cabin find themselves yearning for the sweet friendships of Moonlight Ranch summer camp to help them through some rough patches.
Romance angst prompts Hannah, the white Flowerpot counselor, to bake cookies in hopes of soothing her broken heart. She also mails a box to mixed-race (Chinese and white) Grace, who desperately needs a little wisdom in the wake of a recent dogsitting fiasco. This prompts a whirlwind of cookie boxes and letters winging across the country. Whether it’s a box of strawberry-thumbprint cookies for white Emma, who’s dealing with the loss of her great-grandmother, or lemon cookies for African-American Olivia, trying to leverage her social media profile, each box arrives just at the right time. And even though white Lucy’s cinnamon cookies arrive underbaked, they are perfect for when her estranged father reappears on the scene. Freeman tackles issues such as honesty, depression, grief, and the pressures of the digital age with finesse. And while sugary treats are nice, friendship is the real salve. Separate sections allow each girl to tell her own story. And a quartet of included recipes invites readers to share their own “flour power.”
Even away from camp, the Flowerpot campers blossom. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 16, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-4824-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
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by Martha Freeman ; illustrated by Marta Sevilla
by E.B. White illustrated by Garth Williams ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 1952
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
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by E.B. White illustrated by Fred Marcellino
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by E.B. White illustrated by Garth Williams
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PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
by Katherine Applegate ; illustrated by Patricia Castelao ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2023
Certain to steal hearts.
In this follow-up to 2020’s The One and Only Bob, Ruby the elephant is still living at Wildworld Zoological Park and Sanctuary.
She’s apprehensive about her Tuskday, a rite of passage for young elephants when she’ll give a speech in front of the rest of the herd. Luckily, she can confide in her Uncle Ivan, who is next door in Gorilla World, and Uncle Bob, the dog who lives nearby with human friend Julia. Ruby was born in an unspecified part of Africa, later ending up on display in the mall, where she met Ivan, Bob, and Julia. The unexpected arrival of someone from Ruby’s past life on the savanna revives memories both warmly nostalgic and deeply traumatic. An elephant glossary and Castelao’s charming, illustrated guide to elephant body language help immerse readers in Ruby’s world. Goofy, playful, and mischievous Ruby is fully dimensional, as she has shown her bravery during the many hardships of her young life. Applegate deftly tempers themes of grief and loss with compassion and humor as Ruby finds her place in the herd. The author’s note touches on climate change, the illegal ivory trade, and conservation efforts, but the highly emotive framing of the story through the memories of a bewildered baby elephant emphasizes the impact of lines such as “ ‘in Africa,’ I say softly, ‘there were bad people,’ ” without offering readers a nuanced understanding of the broader context that drives poaching.
Certain to steal hearts. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780063080089
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
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by Katherine Applegate ; illustrated by Patricia Castelao
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