A nostalgic story that will appeal to lovers of old-fashioned tales.
In 1891 Australia, a girl grieving the loss of her parents bonds with a shipwrecked rhinoceros.
Evie, 10, hasn’t spoken since her parents died at sea two years ago. She lives with her ornithologist grandfather in “crumbling” Lunar House in a remote corner of the state of Victoria, where they are tended by Cook (their housekeeper) and Mr. Duffer (their farmhand). Evie has a preternatural affinity for animals, so when she comes across Rhino stranded on the beach, she’s unafraid and leads him home to the stables. Rhino’s an astonishingly agreeable fellow and quickly endears himself to the household, even going so far as to help Cook with the laundry. Nevertheless, Grandpa telegraphs the authorities and learns Rhino had been bound for the Royal Melbourne Zoo, which dispatches a representative to retrieve him. Evie frets over the prospect of losing Rhino, and Grandpa frets over the effect his loss will have on Evie. Basing her tale on a real incident, the shipwreck of the SS Bancoora, McMullin’s cozy adventure of interspecies love and healing has the sentimental feel of children’s literature of yore. Rhino’s cloying adoration of “the golden-haired human child” is only slightly tempered by his appealing earthiness. The human characters read white, and, underscoring the social class differences, the servants’ speech is rendered phonetically (“Yer drenched. Come on, let’s git yer changed”). Hicks’ grayscale drawings punctuate the text.
A nostalgic story that will appeal to lovers of old-fashioned tales. (author's note, recipe) (Historical fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9781761600302
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Walker Books Australia
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers.
First volume of a planned three, this edited version of an ongoing online serial records a middle-school everykid’s triumphs and (more often) tribulations through the course of a school year.
Largely through his own fault, mishaps seem to plague Greg at every turn, from the minor freak-outs of finding himself permanently seated in class between two pierced stoners and then being saddled with his mom for a substitute teacher, to being forced to wrestle in gym with a weird classmate who has invited him to view his “secret freckle.” Presented in a mix of legible “hand-lettered” text and lots of simple cartoon illustrations with the punch lines often in dialogue balloons, Greg’s escapades, unwavering self-interest and sardonic commentary are a hoot and a half.
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-8109-9313-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale.
After a tsunami devastates their habitat in the Salish Sea, a young orca and her brother embark on a remarkable adventure.
Vega’s matriarchal family expects her to become a hunter and wayfinder, with her younger brother, Deneb, protecting and supporting her. Invited to guide her family to their Gathering Place to hunt salmon, Vega’s underwater miscalculations endanger them all, and an embarrassed Vega questions whether she should be a wayfinder. When the baby sister she hoped would become her life companion is stillborn, a distraught Vega carries the baby away to a special resting place, shocking her grieving family. Dispatched to find his missing sister, Deneb locates Vega in the midst of a terrible tsunami. To escape the waters polluted by shattered boats, Vega leads Deneb into unfamiliar open sea. Alone and hungry, the young siblings encounter a spectacular giant whale and travel briefly with shark-hunting orcas. Trusting her instincts and gaining emotional strength from contemplating the vastness of the sky, Vega knows she must lead her brother home and help save her surviving family. In alternating first-person voices, Vega and Deneb tell their harrowing story, engaging young readers while educating them about the marine ecosystem. Realistic black-and-white illustrations enhance the maritime setting.
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale. (maps, wildlife facts, tribes of the Salish Sea watershed, environmental and geographical information, how to help orcas, author’s note, artist’s note, resources) (Animal fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299592-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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