This friendship story will appeal to word nerds and those that tolerate them, and it may even produce some tears under cover...
Benny navigates the treacherous waters of seventh grade with wit and sarcasm.
Dubbed “Mr. Negativity” by his little brother, he follows in his dad’s footsteps in always expecting the worst, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have any fun. He and his two best friends test new vocabulary from the thesaurus each day at school, where a girls-vs.-boys divide arises. Benny is chosen as the boys’ champion in a poetry competition against the girls, led by his nemesis: know-it-all Claudine. Meanwhile, Benny’s dad has been out of work and just can’t find a job, his mom is unrelentingly positive, and his grandpa is slowly losing his mind. This second middle-grade novel from the author of The Amazing Adventures of John Smith, Jr., AKA Houdini (2012) offers richly developed side characters and a true-to-life voice in Benny’s smart-mouthed but still-naïve perspective. His Irish family’s antics (the “Alvarez” is some long-lost relative) carry the story engagingly for readers with only the lightest of plots.
This friendship story will appeal to word nerds and those that tolerate them, and it may even produce some tears under cover of humor. (Fiction. 11-14)Pub Date: June 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-06-221596-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Winning views of a family pulling together, of young people stumbling into adolescence, and of an entertaining if...
Winning a competitive eating contest is David’s only hope of avoiding being grounded for life after he does something stupid with his mother’s credit card.
Already an avid eater and a fan of the “sport,” David Miller, 14, figures that he’s really going to have to up his game after accidently spending $2,000 in an online auction for what is billed as the very hot-dog half that cost pro eater Jooky Garafalo last year’s Nathan’s Famous contest. Fortunately, local pizzeria Pigorino’s is sponsoring a competition at the Iowa State Fair with a $5,000 first prize. Unfortunately, David will have to beat out not only a roster of gifted amateurs to make and win the finals, but also a pair of professionals—notably the renowned but unscrupulous El Gurgitator. As much gourmet as gourmand, David not only vividly chronicles awe-inspiring gustatory feats as he gears up and passes through qualifiers, but describes food with unseemly intensity: “Disks of pepperoni shimmer and glisten on a sea of molten mozzarella.” Even better, though, is the easy, natural way he interacts with Mal, a younger brother whose neurological disability (the term “autistic” is banned from family discourse) transforms but does not conceal a rich internal life. Other subplots, such as a developing relationship between David’s longtime friends Hayden (who is evidently white) and Korean-American Cyn, further enrich a tale in which his own tests and his loving, white family’s determined quest to discover what they dub “Mal’s Rules” both result in thrilling, hard-won triumphs.
Winning views of a family pulling together, of young people stumbling into adolescence, and of an entertaining if controversial pursuit, “reverse-eating events” and all. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9070-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
Fans will be pleased to see answers, background, and a clear path to Volume 1.
In this sequel to a prequel, a third candidate for School Master brings simmering tensions between twins Rhian and Rafal to a boil.
In events following close on those in Rise of the School for Good and Evil (2022), the arrival of James Hook in Neverland, along with fellow ex-students Aladdin and Princess Kyma, spurs ruthless tyrant Peter Pan to mount his own bid to take over the twin-towered school where fairy-tale characters are trained. Meanwhile Rafal and Rhian, amid their growing rivalry, are both searching for an ally they can trust, and they kidnap a Reader—young Midas—from the outside world. What follows is a seminar on telling Good from Evil as the line between the two becomes even more muddled, numerous members of the sprawling cast exhibit qualities of both, and Rafal, in particular, suffers an extended identity crisis. Chainani explores feminist themes as a group of punk Neverland fairies and a man-hunting troll join Kyma, asserting their independence and questioning what might happen “if boys don’t have the last word in our stories.” He also presents a credible rationale for Good’s invariable victory over Evil in fairy tales. Characters’ skin tones vary from pale to bronze, and the two trolls are colorful showstoppers. Final art not seen.
Fans will be pleased to see answers, background, and a clear path to Volume 1. (Fantasy. 11-14)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780063269538
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
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