The courageous heroine and titular mantra will resonate with those who recognize the dynamic.
In this tale translated from Spanish, a mouse endures an abusive relationship—until she doesn’t.
Mousy was happy to move in with Buck. Now, the stylish creature has mournful eyes. The male rodent is belligerent and controlling, proffering presents, like a nightgown, that cater to his preferences, not hers. Buck contextualizes his behavior as love, wanting her to say that she is his and his alone. The passage of time is periodically noted with “The days went by” followed by increasingly disturbing descriptions. Strong colors and patterns comprise the sophisticated scenes, and shadows reveal emotions. In a particularly poignant scene, Mousy’s shadow cries, and a real puddle forms at the base of the wallpaper. Her fear escalates as Buck grows bigger, his eyes more menacing; she thinks she hears him meow. In a climactic confrontation, he asks what she did to obtain a promotion at work, and as he tries to snatch her, she flees. Murmuring, “I am mine and mine alone,” Mousy ponders what real love is as she walks toward a new life and friends: Their collective outline forms the shadow of a dog. Adult characters and innuendos raise the question of intended audience. The pictures are both essential to the story’s impact and a potential barrier to an older readership, but many older children, teens, and even some adults who have encountered similar situations will find it an affirming balm. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
The courageous heroine and titular mantra will resonate with those who recognize the dynamic. (Picture book. 10-14)Pub Date: April 25, 2023
ISBN: 9788419253590
Page Count: 40
Publisher: NubeOcho
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A captivating book situated in present-day discourse around the refugee crisis, featuring two boys who stand by their high...
Two parallel stories, one of a Syrian boy from Aleppo fleeing war, and another of a white American boy, son of a NATO contractor, dealing with the challenges of growing up, intersect at a house in Brussels.
Ahmed lost his father while crossing the Mediterranean. Alone and broke in Europe, he takes things into his own hands to get to safety but ends up having to hide in the basement of a residential house. After months of hiding, he is discovered by Max, a boy of similar age and parallel high integrity and courage, who is experiencing his own set of troubles learning a new language, moving to a new country, and being teased at school. In an unexpected turn of events, the two boys and their new friends Farah, a Muslim Belgian girl, and Oscar, a white Belgian boy, successfully scheme for Ahmed to go to school while he remains in hiding the rest of the time. What is at stake for Ahmed is immense, and so is the risk to everyone involved. Marsh invites art and history to motivate her protagonists, drawing parallels to gentiles who protected Jews fleeing Nazi terror and citing present-day political news. This well-crafted and suspenseful novel touches on the topics of refugees and immigrant integration, terrorism, Islam, Islamophobia, and the Syrian war with sensitivity and grace.
A captivating book situated in present-day discourse around the refugee crisis, featuring two boys who stand by their high values in the face of grave risk and succeed in drawing goodwill from others. (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-30757-6
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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