You are sure to draw some giggles with this story of seven-year-old Jonathan's strange adventure on flu-shot day. Dr. Mack is giving out a helium balloon with every shot, but Jonathan's little brother Sam makes such a fuss over his shot that the doctor rushes through Jonathan's just to get rid of the family. As might be anticipated—it's been squarely set up—he shoots medicine into Jonathan's balloon and helium into Jonathan's arm. Once outdoors, along comes big Duke Duncan, eight, who's been threatening to beat Jonathan up. But just as Duke takes a swing, up goes Jonathan. And when the police come with long ladders to bring him down, he just pops back up above the rooftops. Actually, Jonathan has a pretty good time floating around that day and the next. The only flaw in the fun is Duke keeping a constant eye on him from down on the sidewalk. But once the helium has leaked from Jonathan's ears and he hits ground, he finds that Duke is following him just to share the glory: "I was the very first one to see him go up!" Naylor's writing isn't as buoyant as her hero, but kids will connect with the fantasy.
Pub Date: Sept. 10, 1982
ISBN: 0440414989
Page Count: 68
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1982
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A delectable treat for food and literary connoisseurs alike
Eleven-year-old Mira “Mimi” Mackson is a baking prodigy from a small Massachusetts town called Comity (a thinly disguised Concord).
Mimi is the youngest member of a large family: Her Indian American mom is a successful software consultant, her white dad is a renowned food writer and critic, and her three older siblings (all biracial, like Mimi) excel at acting, dance, and soccer. Although Mimi enjoys creating new treats for her family and experimenting with uncommon flavors, she sometimes feels out of place and invisible amid her accomplished siblings. When a new bakery in town, the While Away Bakery and Café, announces a baking contest for children, Mimi is excited to compete and show off her talents. Things get complicated, however, when Mimi’s father falls under an enchantment that causes him to not only lose his refined sense of taste, but also eat everything in sight. Loosely based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream and inspired by TV shows like The Great British Baking Show, LaRocca’s debut is original and compelling. The realistic characters and complex family dynamics augment the tightly knit plot, and the mouthwatering descriptions of food are guaranteed to make readers hungry. Three recipes at the end of the novel (based on the characters’ concoctions) are an added bonus for those interested in developing their culinary skills.
A delectable treat for food and literary connoisseurs alike . (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0888-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
Compulsively readable; morally uncomfortable.
Six New Jersey 12-year-olds separated by decades race to ensure the “good guys” win World War II in this middle-grade work by the author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and her brother, a children's author and journalist.
It all starts with a ham radio that Alice, Lawrence, and Artie fool around with in 1944 and Henry, Frances, and Lukas find in 2023. It’s late April, and the 1944 kids worry about loved ones in combat, while the 2023 kids study the war in school. When, impossibly, the radio allows the kids to communicate across time, it doesn’t take long before they share information that changes history. Can the two sets of kids work across a 79-year divide to prevent the U.S.A. from becoming the Nazi-controlled dystopia of Westfallen? This propulsive thriller includes well-paced cuts between times that keep the pages turning. Like most people in their small New Jersey town, Alice, Artie, and Frances are white. In 1944, Lawrence, who’s Black, endures bigotry; in the U.S.A. of 2023, Henry’s biracial (white and Black) identity and Lukas’ Jewish one are unremarkable, but in Westfallen, Henry’s a “mischling” doing “work-learning,” and Lukas is a menial laborer. Alice’s and Henry’s dual first-person narration zooms in on the adventure, but readers who pull back may find themselves deeply uneasy with the summary consideration paid to the real-life fates of European Jews and disabled people. The cliffhanger ending will have them hoping for more thoughtful treatment in sequels to come.
Compulsively readable; morally uncomfortable. (Science fiction/thriller. 10-13)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9781665950817
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
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