Thirty-four brief poems express the volatile responses of 12-year-old Fletch to these “six poisonous words: We’re going to move to Ohio.” Fletcher goes from denial to dismay to “Defrosting the Freezer” (for which the reader should be prepared with a tissue or two) to the discovery of long-lost treasures and the eventual understanding that this move will mean difficult changes for every member of his family. Of course, there are one or two things, such as the neighborhood bully, that Fletch won’t be sad to leave. The poet leaves pretension at the moving-van door and gives readers a real feel for the evocative emotions of a regular kid—and that regular kid was Fletcher himself. Emery’s accompanying watercolor illustrations are like flashes of family history viewed through hand-swiped frost on windows of memory. They are simple, but they speak volumes. A fine collection. (Poetry. 7-14)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-59078-339-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2006
A coming-of-age story as tender and sweet as a summer evening breeze
Summer adventures begin when Bina accidentally locks herself out of her house in Larson’s newest middle-grade graphic novel.
The summer before eighth grade is a season of self-discovery for many 13-year-olds, including Bina, when her best friend heads off to soccer camp and leaves her alone to navigate a SoCal summer. Without athletic Austin around to steer the ship, Bina must pursue her own passions, such as discovering new bands and rocking out on her electric guitar. Unexpected friendships bloom, and new members are welcomed into her family. Though her sphere grows over the summer, friendship with Austin is strained when he returns, and Bina must learn to embrace the proverb to make new friends but keep the old. As her mother wisely observes, “you’re more you every day,” and by the end of summer Bina is more comfortable in her own skin and ready to rock eighth grade. Larson’s panels are superb at revealing emotional conflict, subtext, and humor within the deceptively simple third-person limited plot, allowing characters to grow and develop emotionally over only a few spreads. She also does a laudable job of depicting a diverse community for Bina to call home. Though Bina’s ethnicity is never overtly identified, her racial ambiguity lends greater universality to her story. (In the two-toned apricot, black, and white panels, Bina and her mother have the same black hair and gold skin, while her dad is white, as is Austin.)
A coming-of-age story as tender and sweet as a summer evening breeze . (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-374-30485-0
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
PROFILES
Cynical inner-city seventh graders are challenged by an odd idea from a math teacher. Frustrated that his students do not seem the least bit interested in learning, Mr. Collins proposes a contest to build the world’s largest tetrahedron. Several students show up for the first meeting, a few because they want to do something new. One picks math club over failing the class and another does not have anywhere else to go. Armed with reams of paper and glue sticks, the students begin building the huge structure piece by piece. However, the rainbow hued composition is not the only thing they are gluing together. As the weeks pass, they realize that they are forming something much more than a claim to a world record. They are building their lives. Recipes for barbeque sauce, cake and cornbread separate chapters, told in several alternating voices. Smart and fast-paced, this story inspires as well as entertains. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-316-11524-X
Page Count: 254
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2006
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