A work that thoughtfully examines a child’s encounter with the complex natures of people and other creatures.
An 11-year-old girl finds a baby crow and takes it home in Laufer’s middle-grade novel.
Katelyn’s mom and teacher warn her that a baby bird needs its mother to grow strong, but the youngster is determined to help the crow, which she calls Taco. Set in upstate New York, the story wends through the wilderness, the backyard, the farmland of neighbors, and an affluent gated community. Katelyn’s parents don’t use smartphones, and her fifth-grade teacher encourages students to learn how to use books to find information. Maddie, a new girl from New York City, owns a smartphone and, against school rules, brings it to class. When Taco stops eating, Maddie shows Katelyn how to use the phone to look up information on birds when the class is supposed to be looking for books in the school media center. As the girls become friends, Katelyn learns how differently Maddie and her wealthy, tech-oriented family live: “I heard you saw a lot of things at Maddie’s that were new to you,” says Katelyn’s dad later. “Now you know how the other half lives.” Maddie and Katelyn grow closer, but their differences become more apparent. Meanwhile, Katelyn’s love of collecting bugs comes to a dramatic climax after a banded woolly bear caterpillar finally turns into a moth. While tackling a range of themes, Laufer vitally exposes the nuanced contradictions of value systems within families. Katelyn is shown to be passionate about both birds and insects but for different reasons; meanwhile, Maddie’s family is vegan, yet their pet cat is declawed. Maddie has learned how to manipulate and deceive others, perhaps while navigating her parents’ divorce; however, Katelyn generally trusts her friend. The trappings of Maddie’s economic privilege subtly elicit Katelyn’s jealousy and judgment as well. Themes of maturity are effectively expressed in terms of Maddie’s independence and Katelyn’s developing sense of responsibility; just as Katelyn learns that bugs are not hers to keep, she must also accept Taco’s wild nature as he grows.
A work that thoughtfully examines a child’s encounter with the complex natures of people and other creatures.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2022
ISBN: 9781737442004
Page Count: 391
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services LLC - KDP Print US
Review Posted Online: June 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Affecting and hopeful.
A stray dog finds her destiny amid the chaos of a Southern California wildfire.
Wombat is a small dog with stubby legs and “silly ears / that look like furry cookies”—almost impossibly cute in Bricking’s occasional pencil-style vignettes. She’s mastered the art of survival, so when a mysterious internal voice prods her to go toward the fire, she resists. “The wrong way is the right way. / The right way is the wrong way,” the voice insists. When she tells fellow stray Silas about it, he tells Wombat she’s a “destiny dog,” bound to “find their person / before their person / can find them.” Convinced, she decides to follow the mysterious instructions. Meanwhile, Henry, a boy who’s leery of dogs, loves the bats at the wildlife rehabilitation center where Mama Ro, a veterinarian, works; his Mama J is a librarian. Henry and Barnabas, a fruit bat at the center, are both uprooted by the fire, and their paths converge with Wombat’s at an emergency shelter. The third-person perspective shifts from character to character in clusters of free-verse poems that fully immerse readers in each one’s experiences in turn. This extra-concentrated delivery of Applegate’s typically spare writing proves effective, balancing terror and sadness with heart and humor. Henry has light brown skin, Mama Ro has curly black hair and brown skin, and Mama J presents white.
Affecting and hopeful. (Verse fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9780063221178
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Storytide/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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