Touching despite contrivances, and readers will find themselves rooting for Clark, Les, and Ricki.
Clark Sherman’s life is sent into upheaval after his dad’s promotion leads to a cross-country move he doesn’t want to make.
Rightfully so, as the moment the white boy arrives on his first day at Festus Middle School in early 2005, he encounters the first dose of bullying—which only gets worse. To make matters worse, the school counselor places him in eighth-grade remedial classes instead of advanced classes due to a foul-up in his computerized records. (For some reason, his parents aren’t included in that conversation.) Ostracized from Day 1, Clark’s one solace is his obsession with the TV show Star Survivors and all things Star Wars, which provide the sci-fi lens that he uses to navigate his daily life and that inform his quirkily stylized narration. Fate takes a hand when he meets white Les and Asian-American Ricki, both Star Survivors fans and both also targets of the rampant bullying at Festus, and the three new friends put their heads together to find a way to escape the daily terror. Merschel gamely attempts to address endemic bullying that’s facilitated by school administrations to protect favored students (in this case, athletes). The weak spot of this story lies in the very beginning, when the author unconvincingly removes Clark’s parents from active involvement, a plot-driven move that won’t ring true.
Touching despite contrivances, and readers will find themselves rooting for Clark, Les, and Ricki. (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3667-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
Brava!
From award winner Telgemeier (Smile, 2010), a pitch-perfect graphic novel portrayal of a middle school musical, adroitly capturing the drama both on and offstage.
Seventh-grader Callie Marin is over-the-moon to be on stage crew again this year for Eucalyptus Middle School’s production of Moon over Mississippi. Callie's just getting over popular baseball jock and eighth-grader Greg, who crushed her when he left Callie to return to his girlfriend, Bonnie, the stuck-up star of the play. Callie's healing heart is quickly captured by Justin and Jesse Mendocino, the two very cute twins who are working on the play with her. Equally determined to make the best sets possible with a shoestring budget and to get one of the Mendocino boys to notice her, the immensely likable Callie will find this to be an extremely drama-filled experience indeed. The palpably engaging and whip-smart characterization ensures that the charisma and camaraderie run high among those working on the production. When Greg snubs Callie in the halls and misses her reference to Guys and Dolls, one of her friends assuredly tells her, "Don't worry, Cal. We’re the cool kids….He's the dork." With the clear, stylish art, the strongly appealing characters and just the right pinch of drama, this book will undoubtedly make readers stand up and cheer.
Brava! (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-32698-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
SEEN & HEARD
Some readers may feel that the resolution comes a mite too easily, but most will enjoy the journey and be pleased when...
Two sisters make an unauthorized expedition to their former hometown and in the process bring together the two parts of their divided family.
Dooley packs plenty of emotion into this eventful road trip, which takes place over the course of less than 24 hours. Twelve-year-old Ophelia, nicknamed Fella, and her 16-year-old sister, Zoey Grace, aka Zany, are the daughters of a lesbian couple, Shannon and Lacy, who could not legally marry. The two white girls squabble and share memories as they travel from West Virginia to Asheville, North Carolina, where Zany is determined to scatter Mama Lacy’s ashes in accordance with her wishes. The year is 2004, before the Supreme Court decision on gay marriage, and the girls have been separated by hostile, antediluvian custodial laws. Fella’s present-tense narration paints pictures not just of the difficulties they face on the trip (a snowstorm, car trouble, and an unlikely thief among them), but also of their lives before Mama Lacy’s illness and of the ways that things have changed since then. Breathless and engaging, Fella’s distinctive voice is convincingly childlike. The conversations she has with her sister, as well as her insights about their relationship, likewise ring true. While the girls face serious issues, amusing details and the caring adults in their lives keep the tone relatively light.
Some readers may feel that the resolution comes a mite too easily, but most will enjoy the journey and be pleased when Fella’s family figures out how to come together in a new way . (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-16504-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
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