Insightful and purposeful, with strong appeal for animal lovers.
An affectionate dog’s positive attitude is challenged by prejudice.
Smiley, an American Staffordshire terrier—a type of pit bull—begins her life at a high-end Boston kennel. The breeder socializes Smiley and her littermates, exposing them to all kinds of people and a variety of objects and experiences, including vacuum cleaners, skateboards, swimming, and even the zoo (which may surprise readers who are aware that zoos generally ban pets who aren’t service animals). Smiley is so happy that she smiles not only “with her butt” but also with her big, goofy mouth. When she’s adopted by the Menino-Rosado family, Smiley uses her highly empathic nature to support Carlito, a small, nervous Puerto Rican tween from an affordable housing development in Boston’s South End. He’s about to enter seventh grade at prestigious Boston Classical Academy, where he has a scholarship. Carlito becomes the crew team’s coxswain, but when he’s too light for the required minimum, Smiley joins him in the boat, serving as an unorthodox yet effective deadweight. When a classmate’s well-intentioned but poorly socialized pit bull exhibits apparently aggressive behavior at a boat race, Carlito’s wealthy classmate’s father labels Smiley a menace, too, and she suffers a crisis of confidence. Ross thoughtfully explores snobbery, socioeconomic inequity, and racial bias in a strongly developed Boston setting. As in Ross’ Nugly (2023), the story serves as a treatise on canine behavior and care interwoven with layered, deliberately paced storytelling.
Insightful and purposeful, with strong appeal for animal lovers. (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9781546141716
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK TO SCREEN
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
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