Garden (The Year They Burned the Books, 1999, etc.) again traverses scantly explored territory with this earnest tale of an adopted child who tries to cover up the fact that her two moms are gay. Upset after an episode of ostracism at summer camp, Holly decides to take advantage of a move to create a new persona for herself: “Yvette,” sophisticated, non-athletic, fond of ruffles and boys, above all, with a normal family. Her hurt but loving parents agree to go along with the deception, at least when her new friends are around. But what with the domestic tension, the complicated web of lies she has to concoct, plus the self-inflicted pressure to fit in, to keep silent when she hears casually malicious references to dykes and fag hags, from the outset she doesn’t much like what she’s becoming. That web comes apart eventually, but after tears and confessions Holly discovers that her true friends are untroubled by her home arrangements. As the characters here tend to model appropriate or inappropriate behavior and to express or correct misinformation, Garden’s agenda is never far from the surface. Still, while getting a good look at a close, stable, gay household, readers will understand the source of Holly’s conflicting feelings, and feel her relief at the end. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2000
ISBN: 0-374-33273-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2000
On the heels of his triumphant acting debut (Nutty the Movie Star, 1989), Nutty Nutsell—now known as ``Parker House''— captures the lead in The Tae Kwon Do Guy, a bad movie that (he realizes) is perfectly suited to his lack of talent. Worse, a disgruntled ghost is out to sabotage the flick and bring an end to the career of mercurial director Damian Deveraux. Can Nutty survive the ghost-hunting schemes of his brainy friend William Bilks, and also bow gracefully out of the film project? Yes—especially once he discovers that the ghost is willing to make a deal. Nutty displays both common sense and a stout heart in this seventh episode in a lightweight, popular series. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: March 31, 1993
ISBN: 0-689-31743-3
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1993
A gallery of bizarre denizens, past and present, with vibrantly colorful illustrations and intriguing facts. Scale is suggested by contemporary multiracial children, who cavort with the other species. Young browsers will yearn for the time of the miniature elephant or the giant shaggy unicorn, and marvel at an extinct crocodilian that shook its prey to death or contemporary deep-sea creatures like the tripod fish, which walks the ocean floor on its sensitive fin rays. Peters—a compelling storyteller and an imaginative illustrator—rarely gives size, range, or complete scientific names, making some of the information hard to verify, but, still, this is fascinating fodder for science fans and SF buffs. Index. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 14, 1992
ISBN: 0-688-10154-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1992
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