A short, sweet story that will educate readers about a dark time in history while also providing a healthy dose of sci-fi...
In Nawrocki’s debut middle-grade novel, three kids accidentally travel back in time and must warn a Japanese-Canadian family of what awaits them post–Pearl Harbor.
Maddy is a rambunctious 12-year-old redheaded girl who lives on tiny Cortes Island, off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. One summer night, she sneaks out of the house to go lagoon diving with her best friend, Cat, and Cat’s exceptionally smart, hard-of-hearing twin brother, nicknamed “Draggin” because the girls must drag him with them everywhere they go. By the light of the full moon, the trio is swept by the tide through the lagoon—and, by some form of magic, back to late December 1941. There, they meet a kind woman named Malila who tells them about a legend involving people suddenly appearing in the lagoon and delivering important messages. Malila is convinced that the kids have such a message for her, but none of them can figure out what it could be—and until they do, they won’t be able to travel back to their own era. However, they soon learn that a Japanese-Canadian family on the island, the Tagawas, may be in danger of being forced to move east to an internment camp as a result of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor a few weeks prior. Maddy, Cat, and Draggin must warn the family before the Canadian authorities—or other paranoid, prejudiced people—can get to them first. Nawrocki has created a magical story that still feels grounded in reality thanks to her three realistic main characters, their snarky, often hilarious banter, and some heartbreaking historical details. It also helps that the kids’ method of time travel is refreshingly simple, relying on mythology and magic as opposed to hard science. Maddy and company face their share of dangerous obstacles once they land in the past, but they remain spunky and spirited throughout, which helps keep the story from becoming too sad in its darker moments.
A short, sweet story that will educate readers about a dark time in history while also providing a healthy dose of sci-fi fun.Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4602-7713-3
Page Count: 192
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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