THE MOON OVER HIGH STREET

Name: THE MOON OVER HIGH STREET
Author: Natalie Babbitt
ISBN: 978-0-545-37636-5

by Natalie Babbitt ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2012

A congenial, cheerful tale with an important message; Babbitt may reach a new generation of readers with this satisfying...

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Babbitt’s gentle tale presents 12-year-old Joe, who is faced with a decision that could completely change the course of his life.

Orphaned shortly after his birth, Joe, who loves the moon, has been raised by his Gran, but after she breaks a hip, he’s sent to spend some of the summer with his father’s cousin, Aunt Myra, an unmarried teacher who’s always dreamed of raising the boy. In nearly idyllic Midville, he meets the lovely Beatrice, who is not only just his age but also a soul mate. But he inadvertently comes to the attention of the very wealthy factory owner Mr. Boulderwall—aptly, humorously named—who decides that he will adopt Joe and raise him to take over his company, a decision offering the potential of enormous wealth for the boy, but little else. Characters share an otherworldly simplicity of focus and concern that changes this effort from a realistic tale to a cautionary fable about the true impact of choices. The plot quietly meanders toward a conclusion that’s never in doubt, but readers will still celebrate Gran’s showdown with the clueless businessman. While set in the mid-1960s, there’s little to strongly place it in that period.

A congenial, cheerful tale with an important message; Babbitt may reach a new generation of readers with this satisfying work. (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: March 1, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-545-37636-5

Page Count: 160

Publisher: Michael di Capua/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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TUCK EVERLASTING
by Natalie Babbitt ; adapted by K. Woodman-Maynard ; illustrated by K. Woodman-Maynard

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JACK PLANK TELLS TALES
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PEACOCK
by Valerie Worth & illustrated by Natalie Babbitt

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GHOSTS

by Raina Telgemeier ; illustrated by Raina Telgemeier ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 13, 2016

Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...

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Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.

Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.

Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016

Categories:

GENERAL GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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FACING FEELINGS
by Raina Telgemeier ; illustrated by Raina Telgemeier

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THE CARTOONISTS CLUB
by Raina Telgemeier & Scott McCloud ; illustrated by Raina Telgemeier & Scott McCloud ; color by Beniam C. Hollman

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GUTS
by Raina Telgemeier ; illustrated by Raina Telgemeier

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TUCK EVERLASTING

by Natalie Babbitt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1975

However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...

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At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.

Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.

However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the first week in August when this takes place to "the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning") help to justify the extravagant early assertion that had the secret about to be revealed been known at the time of the action, the very earth "would have trembled on its axis like a beetle on a pin." (Fantasy. 9-11)