Fans of world-record quests and those who enjoy lighthearted tales will savor Teddy’s efforts.
After discovering The Guinness Book of World Records, Teddy’s determined to achieve a world record, too.
How can a 10-year-old manage it? He’s constrained by his six remarkable siblings, all marching to the beats of their own drummers, a device debut author Burnham uses to make each of them readily distinguishable. The most difficult, from Teddy’s viewpoint, is 4-year-old Jake, aka “The Destructor,” who shares Teddy’s bedroom, enjoys napping in a (clean) cat box and often unintentionally destroys Teddy’s belongings. Teddy gets a tent for his birthday, then pitches it in the backyard and moves out. That provides the opportunity to learn more about the 57 pigeons owned by his grumpy, elderly next-door neighbor, who hires him to care for the birds. The pigeons could be his key to a world record, if, with lots of peanut-buttered birdseed and helpful friends, they’ll all land on him at once. As revealed in his engaging, age-appropriate, first-person narration, things rarely work out as planned. Although they provide ample drama, Teddy’s large family is—unexpectedly—engaged in his pratfall-riddled pursuit. Bizarre actual world records are neatly incorporated into the narrative. Ample white space, large print and Spencer’s drolly entertaining illustrations inflate the page count somewhat for the younger middle-grade audience.
Fans of world-record quests and those who enjoy lighthearted tales will savor Teddy’s efforts. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-227810-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Poet Alexander deftly reveals the power of the format to pack an emotional punch.
Basketball-playing twins find challenges to their relationship on and off the court as they cope with changes in their lives.
Josh Bell and his twin, Jordan, aka JB, are stars of their school basketball team. They are also successful students, since their educator mother will stand for nothing else. As the two middle schoolers move to a successful season, readers can see their differences despite the sibling connection. After all, Josh has dreadlocks and is quiet on court, and JB is bald and a trash talker. Their love of the sport comes from their father, who had also excelled in the game, though his championship was achieved overseas. Now, however, he does not have a job and seems to have health problems the parents do not fully divulge to the boys. The twins experience their first major rift when JB is attracted to a new girl in their school, and Josh finds himself without his brother. This novel in verse is rich in character and relationships. Most interesting is the family dynamic that informs so much of the narrative, which always reveals, never tells. While Josh relates the story, readers get a full picture of major and minor players. The basketball action provides energy and rhythm for a moving story.
Poet Alexander deftly reveals the power of the format to pack an emotional punch. (Verse fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-10771-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Quirky and imaginative—postmodern storytelling at its best.
Friendly curiosity and a gift for naming earn a polar bear an assortment of (mostly animal) friends, adventures, mishaps, and discoveries.
Arriving at a northern ocean, Duane spies a shipwreck. Swimming out to investigate, he meets its lone occupant, C.C., a learned snowy owl whose noble goal is acquiring knowledge to apply “toward the benefit of all.” Informing Duane that he’s a polar bear, she points out a nearby cave that might suit him—it even has a mattress. Adding furnishings from the wreck—the grandfather clock’s handless, but who needs to tell time when it’s always now?—he meets a self-involved musk ox, entranced by his own reflection, who’s delighted when Duane names him “Handsome.” As he comes to understand, then appreciate their considerable diversity, Duane brings out the best in his new friends. C.C., who has difficulty reading emotions and dislikes being touched, evokes the autism spectrum. Magic, a bouncy, impulsive arctic fox, manifests ADHD. Major Puff, whose proud puffin ancestry involves courageous retreats from danger, finds a perfect companion in Twitch, a risk-aware, common-sensical hare. As illustrated, Sun Girl, a human child, appears vaguely Native, and Squint, a painter, white, but they’re sui generis: The Canadian author avoids referencing human culture. The art conveys warmth in an icy setting; animal characters suggest beloved stuffed toys, gently reinforcing the message that friendship founded on tolerance breeds comfort and safety.
Quirky and imaginative—postmodern storytelling at its best. (Animal fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3341-0
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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