A thoughtfully told, refreshingly illustrated story.
A recollection of a pivotal turn in the road of life.
In thoughtful, measured tones, the story’s narrator, an English girl named Bonny, now “well over thirty,” reminisces about a time in her life when her ambition was to be an Olympic medal–winning bicyclist. Receiving a racing bike for her 12th birthday, Bonny heads out for a ride in the Dales. Distracted by three horses cavorting in a field, Bonny falls. Recovering, she examines her slightly injured knee and laments over her flat tire, then sees the three horses gazing at her over the stone wall. Bonny is smitten. From then on, she plans her training rides to pass the horses’ field and begins to bring them carrots. Eventually, she meets their owner, a woman sculptor (apparently based on the British sculptor Elisabeth Frink, to whom the book is dedicated) who offers her a job mucking out the horses’ stalls—and Bonny’s straight-focus road to being a competitive cyclist takes a turn. Thoughtful and validating, the story embraces the idea of change and doing what you love. The refreshing illustrations combine full-color paintings of the Dales with sidebar black-and-white studies of animals, reminiscent of an artist’s sketchbook. In addition to livening up the small, squarish trim size of the book, the illustrative style also mirrors and enhances the storyline of the artist/sculptor who is so formative to Bonny’s path in life. The cast is assumed White.
A thoughtfully told, refreshingly illustrated story. (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1288-4
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020
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
An endearing protagonist runs the first, fast leg of Reynolds' promising relay.
Castle “Ghost” Cranshaw feels like he’s been running ever since his dad pulled that gun on him and his mom—and used it.
His dad’s been in jail three years now, but Ghost still feels the trauma, which is probably at the root of the many “altercations” he gets into at middle school. When he inserts himself into a practice for a local elite track team, the Defenders, he’s fast enough that the hard-as-nails coach decides to put him on the team. Ghost is surprised to find himself caring enough about being on the team that he curbs his behavior to avoid “altercations.” But Ma doesn’t have money to spare on things like fancy running shoes, so Ghost shoplifts a pair that make his feet feel impossibly light—and his conscience correspondingly heavy. Ghost’s narration is candid and colloquial, reminiscent of such original voices as Bud Caldwell and Joey Pigza; his level of self-understanding is both believably childlike and disarming in its perception. He is self-focused enough that secondary characters initially feel one-dimensional, Coach in particular, but as he gets to know them better, so do readers, in a way that unfolds naturally and pleasingly. His three fellow “newbies” on the Defenders await their turns to star in subsequent series outings. Characters are black by default; those few white people in Ghost’s world are described as such.
An endearing protagonist runs the first, fast leg of Reynolds' promising relay. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5015-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
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