Readers who might be miffed at the anti-city, anti-computer bias will be much mollified by hearing the animals’...
Twins Mikey and Jake and their baby sister, Sally, move to the country from the city, with interesting results, in this middle-grade tale touched lightly with fantasy.
Mikey narrates, except for the chapters in which the sheep, the lizards and Emma the rescue dog tell part of the story. Mikey is not at all sure this country business is worth it: no email, no corner store, no dishwasher. “When you don’t want to be someplace, it takes a lot of time to be there.” He talks a lot about missing his cool friend, Justin, and what he might tell him about this strange new life. When a snake turns up, it is Mikey who gets to choose Emma, an Old English sheepdog rescued from a puppy mill, to keep it away. She does, too, and although she is hopeless at the neighbor’s sheep, she does rescue Sally from a muddy drowning. The boys’ plan to get the sheep to mow their lawn is told both from their point of view and that of the sheep, and it is pretty hilarious, especially when both sheep get locked in the car sitting on the horn (don’t ask). Mikey’s efforts at winkling out what his parents mean, exactly, are very much on target, and seeing how adult actions look to the boys is amusing and sometimes wise.
Readers who might be miffed at the anti-city, anti-computer bias will be much mollified by hearing the animals’ conversations, which make it all worthwhile. (Fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: March 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-61067-050-0
Page Count: 150
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Ordinary kids in an extraordinary setting: still a recipe for bright achievements and belly laughs.
Rejoice! 25 years later, Wayside School is still in session, and the children in Mrs. Jewls’ 30th-floor classroom haven’t changed a bit.
The surreal yet oddly educational nature of their misadventures hasn’t either. There are out-and-out rib ticklers, such as a spelling lesson featuring made-up words and a determined class effort to collect 1 million nail clippings. Additionally, mean queen Kathy steps through a mirror that turns her weirdly nice and she discovers that she likes it, a four-way friendship survives a dumpster dive after lost homework, and Mrs. Jewls makes sure that a long-threatened “Ultimate Test” allows every student to show off a special talent. Episodic though the 30 new chapters are, there are continuing elements that bind them—even to previous outings, such as the note to an elusive teacher Calvin has been carrying since Sideways Stories From Wayside School (1978) and finally delivers. Add to that plenty of deadpan dialogue (“Arithmetic makes my brain numb,” complains Dameon. “That’s why they’re called ‘numb-ers,’ ” explains D.J.) and a wild storm from the titular cloud that shuffles the school’s contents “like a deck of cards,” and Sachar once again dishes up a confection as scrambled and delicious as lunch lady Miss Mush’s improvised “Rainbow Stew.” Diversity is primarily conveyed in the illustrations.
Ordinary kids in an extraordinary setting: still a recipe for bright achievements and belly laughs. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-296538-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
Come for the mystery, stay for the backmatter.
This gentle, fast-paced mystery will hook readers with interesting details.
Julieta Leal, 9, is a magnet for disasters. She has a reputation at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, where both her parents work, for making trouble. Julieta is just trying to help, and it’s not her fault that sometimes things get broken or she has a hard time following the rules. When Julieta’s dad invites her along on a trip to Paris regarding the loan of some pieces from the Louvre, she jumps at the chance to add another purple pin to her family’s world-travel map. She promises to be helpful and stay out of trouble and desperately wants to shed her reputation of being a liability. This proves difficult when the dazzling Regent Diamond is stolen and Julieta and her dad are implicated in the theft. With her dad’s job in peril and the prized gem missing, Julieta must rely on her keen observations and tenacity to clear their names. Detailed descriptions of Paris landmarks and factual information about museum pieces are woven naturally into the fast-moving plot so that readers come away with knowledge of these topics alongside a satisfying story. Several pages of backmatter notes bolster the learning. The endearing Julieta is bilingual, and she and her family are Mexican American.
Come for the mystery, stay for the backmatter. (glossaries) (Mystery. 8-11)Pub Date: June 30, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64379-046-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Tu Books
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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