Strictly for the author’s devotees.
An author reminisces on her life and her work.
After 30 years of writing the Magic Tree House series, Osborne collects some of the books’ core values and lessons and makes connections to moments in her own life, whether formative or small. As a child in a military family, she moved frequently and often relied on her siblings, her imagination, and nature for reliable amusement. The 10 chapters each present a different theme, such as the importance of compassion, the magic of a good book, honoring heroes, and the warning to “Be Daring, but Not Foolish.” Each short chapter presents particular maxims, some of which are more profound than others (“Look outside yourself to find unexpected treasure all around you” versus “Love dogs. Start now”), but they are always sincere. Prefacing each of Osborne’s reminisces are selections from various series installments that relate to the theme at hand. However, this scrapbook memoir is only loosely tied together, and readers will probably get only minor satisfaction from it unless they are great fans of the series. Two-toned pictures by the original series illustrator, Murdocca, are interspersed throughout; children depicted present White. Bookending the text are notes from the author on why she decided to write this work as well as the moment of inspiration for the series. Also included are some of Osborne’s family photographs.
Strictly for the author’s devotees. (Nonfiction. 7-12)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-48454-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
Elegiac and hopeful.
In the wake of his brother’s death, a black boy struggles with grief and coming out.
When Kingston’s white friend Sandy came out to him a few months ago, Kingston’s older brother, Khalid, told him to stay away from Sandy because King wouldn’t want people to think he was gay too. And then Khalid died. Their mom wants him to see someone, but King refuses because he knows he has nothing to say except that he is sad. Although his dad says boys don’t cry, King can’t stop the tears from coming every time he thinks of Khalid. But King knows that his brother is not really gone: Khalid “shed his skin like a snake” and is now a dragonfly. Complicating King’s grief over the sudden loss of his brother is the fear that Khalid would not still love him if he knew the truth—King is gay. Every day after school King walks to the bayou searching for Khalid, wondering if he can ever share who he is. When Sandy goes missing, King must come to terms with the true cost of shame. The tale is set in Louisiana, and Callender’s vivid descriptions of the rural area King calls home are magical; readers will feel the heat and the sweat, see the trees and the moss. This quiet novel movingly addresses toxic masculinity, homophobia in the black community—especially related to men—fear, and memory.
Elegiac and hopeful. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-12933-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers.
First volume of a planned three, this edited version of an ongoing online serial records a middle-school everykid’s triumphs and (more often) tribulations through the course of a school year.
Largely through his own fault, mishaps seem to plague Greg at every turn, from the minor freak-outs of finding himself permanently seated in class between two pierced stoners and then being saddled with his mom for a substitute teacher, to being forced to wrestle in gym with a weird classmate who has invited him to view his “secret freckle.” Presented in a mix of legible “hand-lettered” text and lots of simple cartoon illustrations with the punch lines often in dialogue balloons, Greg’s escapades, unwavering self-interest and sardonic commentary are a hoot and a half.
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-8109-9313-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
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