A vivid, well-meaning collection, but one that offers too-easy resolutions.
Children face moral dilemmas in these stories for middle-school readers.
In this collection, Tolles (Ben’s Big Year, 2012, etc.) reprints stories that first appeared in publications such as Cricket magazine and the Los Angeles Times’ Kids’ Reading Room page. She arranges these very short tales into three sections: “Far Away Times and Places,” which includes stories set in India, the American West and other locales; and “About Boys” and “About Girls,” which feature male and female protagonists, respectively. Each story contains a lesson or moral; for example, “Bear Watch” concerns a northern Indian girl who realizes that she must climb a platform and make noise to protect her family’s cornfield from bears—in the middle of the night, all by herself. In the end, she discovers the joy and pride of success. In “Who Will Be Emperor: A Chinese Legend,” a boy is richly rewarded for telling the truth, even though he fears being exposed as a failure. The 5-year-old girl in “Swim Meet” learns that keeping at a task is more important than winning, and it will still get you a ribbon. Tolles is a prolific writer of children’s books, and her stories are simple, vivid and affectionate. They can sometimes seem pat, however, as children who struggle to do the right thing are always recompensed in short order. In “Barn Dance,” for example, a teenage girl with a leg brace braves her fears, hoping her long dress will hide the brace; it doesn’t, but the nice boy from the dance calls her anyway. Although there’s a good message in not allowing physical challenges to prevent participation, such easy answers and guaranteed rewards don’t always happen in real life. The stories’ teenagers also seem to come from an earlier era; in “Girl Runner,” for example, Tolles explains that “[c]oed sports had come to southern California this year.” Title IX, which prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in school athletic activities, was signed into law more than 40 years ago; it’s also very strange that a girl in today’s athletic culture wouldn’t want a potential boyfriend to know she’s on the track team. Occasional punctuation errors also detract.
A vivid, well-meaning collection, but one that offers too-easy resolutions.Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-1492321644
Page Count: 74
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An enjoyable picture book that addresses important issues in a kid-friendly way without being preachy.
Willenbrock’s heartwarming debut picture book is the autobiographical story of how she came to share her home with a special shelter dog.
Told from the perspective of Marshall, Willenbrock’s dog, this tale tells of his unpleasant life in the home of a dog hoarder, where food for the dogs was so scarce that they fought each other at mealtime. In one of these fights, Marshall’s front leg was broken and his face was badly bitten. When animal rescuers finally found out about the animal hoarder and took the dogs away, Marshall was in such sorry shape that they didn’t know if he would make it. He ended up losing his damaged front leg and his face remained badly scarred, yet he describes the compassion of the humane society workers who helped him learn how to walk and run on three legs. He meets his new “mom” (owner) and adjusts to a life of freedom with her and her other dog, Mooshy. Though life is good, Marshall is insecure and nervous about how other dogs and people will react to the fact that he has only three legs and a big scar on his face, but he’s pleasantly surprised by the kindness of others. Heimbaugh’s realistic colored-pencil illustrations help bring Marshall’s story to life. Due to wordiness and the use of some bigger words—celebrity, socialize, limitations—this book will most likely work better as a read-aloud with school-age children. It also lends itself to discussions about the humane treatment of animals and discussions about bullying.
An enjoyable picture book that addresses important issues in a kid-friendly way without being preachy.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0615666259
Page Count: 40
Publisher: The Marshall Movement
Review Posted Online: Oct. 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Unanswered questions and heavy-handed writing drain intrigue from this not-so-spooky story.
Three friends unravel old secrets lurking beneath the surface of a picture-perfect town in this young adult mystery.
Fallon and her best friend, Blair, live in the town of Whitford, a “sort of old fashioned” place where “everyone knows everyone else.” Nothing ever goes wrong there, except for local 16-year-old girls’ penchant for drowning in Whitford Pond on their 16th birthdays. That is, nothing ever goes wrong until Blair, Fallon and their new friend Lila start investigating the drownings as part of a history project. Soon after the girls paddle out to the spooky island at the middle of the pond where its victims are buried, Fallon discovers that she’s related to the pond’s first victim: Elizabeth Mason, who was engaged to the prosperous son of the town jeweler before her supposed suicide in 1750. By poking around the town historical society and badgering Fallon’s lively grandmother, Nana, the girls realize that something sinister lurks beneath Whitford’s bucolic surface. It’s only when the trio heads to the fourth floor of Whitford’s public library in search of A Genealogy of the Noble Families of Whitford: A History that they realize their quest is putting them in danger. Blair and Fallon’s friendship feels comfortable and credible, although the addition of “exotic” Lila seems like a strained plot device rather than a real-life event. Indeed, much of the plotting is convenient rather than clever; the girls’ discoveries primarily result from pushing Nana to give them information or snooping around Nana’s house—and the developments that aren’t related to Nana are foreshadowed so heavily that they come as no surprise. Another distraction: Every time that the inhabitants of Whitford scream or emphasize a turn of phrase, Fredo uses capital letters. They’re are unnecessary, for example, when Fallon says, “I JUST HAD THE BEST IDEA EVER!”
Unanswered questions and heavy-handed writing drain intrigue from this not-so-spooky story.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 172
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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