A boy of Creole descent goes to a family reunion, where he develops a relationship with his estranged grandfather and learns the history of his people. Eleven-year-old Ray Moret is looking forward to celebrating his great-grandfather’s 90th birthday. But his family’s plans are almost derailed when Ray’s father learns that his father, to whom he hasn’t spoken in many years, is planning on attending as well. Ray is particularly interested in meeting his gran-papa, as he’s been told that he favors him physically. The Creole people have African, Native American, French, and Spanish blood, but Ray is the only dark-skinned member of his immediate family. Although his father forbids it, at the reunion Ray seeks out his grandfather, and from him and his great-grandfather, he learns about his ancestors and their place in history. The pressing questions the fictional story raises—Will Ray be able to have a relationship with Gran-papa? Why does his father hate Gran-papa and can they reconcile?—are at best only tangential to the history recounted. And while it’s clear that Walter is bursting with important pedagogical information she wishes to impart, the sections where the distant past is recounted simply halt the action. Likewise, the issues surrounding skin tone and societal and familial acceptance, though fascinating, are discussed more than they’re dramatized. Still, Walter gives young readers a lot to think about, and they’ll be rooting for Ray to succeed in reuniting his family. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-06-623624-X
Page Count: 128
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2001
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
BOOK REVIEW
Soup and pasta, that is. The preparation of the two dinners forms the structure for this loose little treatment in which 12-year-old Rosie works out her changing relationship with Bailey, the proverbial boy-next-door. The reader meets Rosie and her Granny as they slice and chop, Granny’s penetrating questions and stories of her youth leading narrator Rosie to reflect in short vignettes on her lifelong friendship and on her current pre-adolescent difficulties. The scenario is repeated the following week, only now Bailey himself becomes part of the cooking crew, clearly benefiting as much from Granny’s well-timed pauses as Rosie. Rosie’s present-tense voice is fresh and young, with an ingenuous turn of phrase. The structure mitigates significant plot development, however: readers are presented with a situation—Bailey and Rosie redefine their childhood friendship—which is resolved ever-so-neatly, thanks to Granny’s remarkably parallel stories and a few pinches of garlic. Full of good humor and aromatic seasonings, this offering nevertheless may not stick to the ribs. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-06-029290-3
Page Count: 160
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2003
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