Times are hard for Blessing and her elderly grandmother, Monnie, and they’re about to get harder. Hermes (A Perfect Place, above, etc.) tells this story in the voice of the 11-year-old protagonist as she comes to term with the impending death of her guardian and beloved grandmother. Monnie has cared for Blessing for nine years, since Blessing’s mother died, leaving the two-year-old without parents. Her father had died before her birth in a mine accident that also killed her grandfather. Blessing, seemingly ill-named, is in fact blessed with a small but secure home, a school to attend, a beautiful singing voice, and a grandmother who loves her more than anything. Blessing’s world starts to fall apart when Monnie admits what Blessing has begun to suspect: Monnie is dying. Readers go through the predictable stages of grief as Blessing prepares for the inevitable and prays for the miracle that refuses to come. Maudlin and manipulative, this pulls every heartstring: here is Blessing sneaking out to look in on the families that Monnie has picked out as guardians; there she is fingering the violin that Monnie played while she sang along; and at the hospital, the kind doctor is explaining the hard facts to her. But at the end, all the stops are pulled out as Blessing bathes her grandmother’s body for burial. Blessing’s voice seems too mature and remarkably reflective for an 11-year-old mountain girl in the 1940s. The way Blessing and Monnie love the mountains and their neighbors, it seems hard to believe the neighbors would not be bringing food and helping out with the cleaning until Monnie is within days of her death. Indeed, Blessing attends school and leaves the dying grandmother alone all day long. No teacher intervenes and no church ladies step in to help until the very last moment. Uneven and almost unbearably sad, this is a tale that drowns in its own good intentions. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-380-97452-5
Page Count: 160
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
A pitch-perfect middle-grade novel that insightfully explores timely topics with authenticity and warmth.
A nuanced novel about a neurodiverse preteen’s political and social awakening by a Pura Belpré Honor–winning author.
Sixth grader Emilia Rosa Torres sometimes has a hard time keeping up with schoolwork and concentrating on one thing at a time, but her software-developer mother and superinvolved abuelita help her keep on task. Days before her father’s return to their Atlanta suburb from his most recent deployment, her mother goes on a business trip, leaving the middle schooler to juggle his mood swings, her friend troubles, and her looming assignments all on her own. When a social studies project opens her eyes to injustices past and present, Emilia begins to find her voice and use it to make an impact on her community. Writing with sensitivity and respectful complexity, Cartaya tackles weighty issues, such as immigration, PTSD, and microaggressions, through the lens of a budding tinkerer and activist who has ADHD. The members of this Cuban American family don’t all practice the same religion, with Emilia’s Catholic grandmother faithfully attending Mass multiple times a week and the protagonist’s mother celebrating her culture’s Yoruba roots with Santería. Conversations on race and gender crop up through the narrative as Emilia’s grandmother likes to emphasize her family’s European heritage—Emilia can pass as white, with her fair complexion, light eyes and auburn hair. All of these larger issues are effortlessly woven in with skill and humor, as is the Spanish her family easily mixes with English.
A pitch-perfect middle-grade novel that insightfully explores timely topics with authenticity and warmth. (author’s note) (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-451-47972-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Kokila
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf