A family story that highlights environmentalism and personal connection.
The ghost of 12-year-old Basil’s grandfather has a message to share.
Basil Theriot is the only one who can see ghostly G’pere at his funeral. In this slow-burn story, she follows his vague directions, trying to determine what G’pere needs from her. Meanwhile, her family stresses over their restaurant’s signature dish, seafood-stuffed mirlitons; her father, taking over for executive chef G’pere, can’t figure out the secret ingredient. Basil chafes against expectation that she’ll take over the restaurant someday—she knows the sacrifices involved, and she doesn’t even like Cajun food. Basil uses her school’s upcoming Career Day presentations, some fibs, and the assistance of her Creole-Italian best friend, Tommy Spizale, as cover for reconnecting with her family’s Cajun roots through visits with G’pere’s friends (a swamp tour airboat captain, a shrimper, and a coastal scientist). The outings allow New Orleans and Louisiana’s Central Wetlands to shine as key characters. In the climax, Basil, who’s found her environmentalist passion, faces consequences for the lies she’s told and the ways she’s treated Tommy during her single-minded quest. The plot threads come together neatly, and the character arcs are thematically satisfying. The book oversimplifies distinctions between Cajun identity, which is framed as white, and Creole, which is described as Black or mixed race (but “considered Black” in the U.S.), a dichotomy that erases Indigenous heritage and real-world complexities. Indigenous peoples are mentioned in a high-quality author’s note.
A family story that highlights environmentalism and personal connection. (sources) (Paranormal. 8-12)Pub Date: March 24, 2026
ISBN: 9780063325432
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
A deeply imaginative journey that puts the “cat” in cathartic.
A loyal black kitten’s boy is under supernatural attack.
Eleven-month-old Nimbus loves Fletcher, the boy who nursed her back to health following life-threatening injuries. When Fletcher becomes curious about a strange jar and opens it, releasing a terrible goblin, loyal Nim protects Fletcher, taking heavy damage in the process. But Fletcher’s aunt, who’s caring for him over spring break, believes Nim attacked Fletcher and dumps her far from home. Rhett, a stylish rat with star quality, befriends injured Nim and leads her to a witch’s house. While the witch cares for Nim, the witch’s cats (maternal Fern, bookish Rochester, standoffish Bianca, and openly hostile Abraxas) teach Nim important cat skills. She also discovers she has a supernatural ability: In destroying one eye of the nightmare demon in the fight to protect Fletcher, Nim gained its “dream sight.” But she also learns it might come back for Fletcher, who no longer has Nim to protect him, posing a time-sensitive, high-stakes threat. Even though the witch’s home is nice and magic itself seems to be telling her to stay put, Nim wants to find a way back to Fletcher. As a hero, Nimbus is as gritty and determined as she is adorable. Tear-jerker moments explore pet abandonment—readers may want their own pets on hand to hug—all the way through the magical, action-packed finale. Fletcher and the witch read white.
A deeply imaginative journey that puts the “cat” in cathartic. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780062680372
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
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
BOOK REVIEW
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