ANNA ANALYST

Name: ANNA ANALYST
Author: Patti Edgar
ISBN: 978-1-77337-056-9

by Patti Edgar ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 10, 2021

A kid on the cusp of middle school attempts to solve her problems using handwriting analysis.

Lately, Anna’s best friend, Lana, has been hanging out with Harlow and planning a Japanese anime marathon for the summer. Anna, no fan of either Harlow or anime, fears Lana might be replacing her. Anna’s own summer plans revolve around active, outdoor activities like minigolf. Her friend Evan has no interest in minigolf; his passion is gaming. Lana, who’s lined up a dogsitting gig, probably won’t help Anna care for her pet tortoises, Nachos and Salsa. No, Lana will be earning money to buy a phone and clothes for her “whole new look.” Money’s tight at Anna’s house since her overprotective mom lost her job. And that’s not all. Anna keeps forgetting to clean the tortoises’ habitat; the tiny crack on Nachos’ shell is growing. Hoping The Guide to Graphology, found abandoned in a classroom cupboard on the last day of fifth grade, can help her assess Lana’s intentions, Anna soon applies it to her other goals, too. She collects handwriting samples from friends and family, then supplements (or substitutes) the book’s analysis with her own pithy critiques. Few agree to pay for her services, though; meanwhile, Lana’s still friends with Harlow, and Nachos’ shell looks worse. Bossy, inventive Anna is authentic and endearing. Her dilemmas and struggles—especially when her creative solutions breed new problems—are convincing, at once familiar and fresh. Characters default to White.

A droll, deftly executed debut. (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: May 10, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-77337-056-9

Page Count: 112

Publisher: Yellow Dog

Review Posted Online: March 17, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021

Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid.

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JAKE THE FAKE KEEPS IT REAL

From the Jake the Fake series , Vol. 1

by Craig Robinson & Adam Mansbach ; illustrated by Keith Knight ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 28, 2017

Black sixth-grader Jake Liston can only play one song on the piano. He can’t read music very well, and he can’t improvise. So how did Jake get accepted to the Music and Art Academy? He faked it.

Alongside an eclectic group of academy classmates, and with advice from his best friend, Jake tries to fit in at a school where things like garbage sculpting and writing art reviews of bird poop splatter are the norm. All is well until Jake discovers that the end-of-the-semester talent show is only two weeks away, and Jake is short one very important thing…talent. Or is he? It’s up to Jake to either find the talent that lies within or embarrass himself in front of the entire school. Light and humorous, with Knight’s illustrations adding to the fun, Jake’s story will likely appeal to many middle-grade readers, especially those who might otherwise be reluctant to pick up a book. While the artsy antics may be over-the-top at times, this is a story about something that most preteens can relate to: the struggle to find your authentic self. And in a world filled with books about wanting to fit in with the athletically gifted supercliques, this novel unabashedly celebrates the artsy crowd in all of its quirky, creative glory.

A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid. (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: March 28, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-553-52351-5

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016

Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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Nellie Bly’s contemporary namesake does her proud.

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THE NEWSPAPER CLUB

From the Newspaper Club series , Vol. 1

by Beth Vrabel ; illustrated by Paula Franco ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 10, 2020

Eleven-year-old Nellie’s investigative reporting leads her to solve a mystery, start a newspaper, and learn key lessons about growing up.

Nellie’s voice is frank and often funny—and always full of information about newspapers. She tells readers of the first meeting of her newspaper club and then says, “But maybe I’m burying the lede…what Dad calls it when a reporter puts the most interesting part…in the middle or toward the end.” (This and other journalism vocabulary is formally defined in a closing glossary.) She backtracks to earlier that summer, when she and her mother were newly moved into a house next to her mother’s best friend in rural Bear Creek, Maine. Nellie explains that the newspaper that employed both of her parents in “the city” had folded soon after her father left for business in Asia. When Bear Creek Park gets closed due to mysterious, petty crimes, Nellie feels compelled to investigate. She feels closest to her dad when on the park’s swings, and she is more comfortable interviewing adults than befriending peers. Getting to know a plethora of characters through Nellie’s eyes is as much fun as watching Nellie blossom. Although astute readers will have guessed the park’s vandalizers, they are rewarded by observing Nellie’s fact-checking process. A late revelation about Nellie’s father does not significantly detract from this fully realized story of a young girl adjusting admirably to new circumstances. Nellie and her mother present white; secondary characters are diverse.

Nellie Bly’s contemporary namesake does her proud. (Fiction. 8-12)