The Bindi Babes—Geena, Amber and Jazz Dhillon—the popular and altogether likable Indian tweens from England, are back. Their school fundraiser’s Bollywood theme prompts them to track down Molly Mahal, a former Bollywood icon whose career ended with a scandalous affair, to ask her to be the guest of honor. When the girls find her about to be evicted, however, they instead ask her to live with them. Ever the diva, Molly demands to be waited on, steals attention from every male, makes the girls’ widowed father notice women again, has level-headed Auntie losing her cool and sets the sisters scheming to rid themselves of their house guest. The Dhillons discover that under the bangles and media hype, Molly has a conscience and knows how to unite a community. Dhami’s skillful blend of Indian culture, lighthearted escapades and serious subject matter introduced through humor will leave readers anticipating the next sequel. (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: March 8, 2005
ISBN: 0-385-73178-7
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2005
Wood (Making the World, 1998, etc.) tackles the enormity of death and the meaning of prayer in a way that is both accessible and meaningful. A boy walks with his grandfather, who is his best friend. As they stroll through woods and past streams, the boy asks those questions that grandparents are on earth to answer—“Why?” “What if?”—and about prayers. Lucidly, the grandfather explains that trees “pray” as they reach for the sky, that waters pray, that the wind prays and sings at the same time. When people pray, “a prayer is often its own answer.” The grandfather dies, and the narrator finds it impossible to pray anymore; one day, when he is older, he discovers the woods again, and finds his own prayers. The deeply naturalistic watercolors portray the wild exquisitely, and the boy and grandfather are timelessly rendered in jeans, corduroys, and plaids. Some of the spreads are stunning: a close-up of the boy in the grass with a tiny clover in his fist, and only Grandad’s knees visible; or a ground-level view, looking up, past the upturned faces of the pair to the sun shining through the trees above. This is a depiction of the spiritual that is without reference to a particular faith or tradition, and that doesn’t lapse into greeting-card platitudes; Wood conveys a sense of something larger in the world, and gives voice to the human longing to understand. (Picture book. 6-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7636-0660-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although this novel is burdened by various issues of credibility, Hobbs delivers a fast-paced, engrossing read with two characters on opposite ends of the ethical spectrum who meet in the all-too-human middle. Dubbed “little Mister Sunshine” by his mother, good-natured Charlie, 11, has always been the emotionally stable fixer in his family, the one who “jumped in and tried to make things right.” When his mother and father announce that they are separating, Charlie decides to run away from home “to teach his parents a lesson, make them realize what a broken family felt like before it was too late.” Making use of his Boy Scout training, Charlie packs his knapsack with survival gear and takes to the road. The straightforward but emotionally engrossing plot immediately catches fire when Charlie hooks up with Doo—an outwardly tough, inwardly vulnerable 14-year-old girl who is on the run for far more pressing reasons—and culminates when they meet up with some unsavory youth. Without preaching, the simple but eloquent narrative and realistic dialogue illuminate Charlie, a principled child who struggles to keep his head up in increasingly turbulent moral waters. Hobbs asks readers to suspend disbelief through encounters in drug dens and tough-guy police grillings; once they do, the story will have them in its grip. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: March 28, 2000
ISBN: 0-374-34994-0
Page Count: 166
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
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