An admirable feat that entertains even as it instructs
Eating a stinkbug has unforeseen consequences for Will.
Will Nolan, who is white, is shocked when his friend Darryl (also white) calls the new boy in their Minnesota school, Hispanic Eloy, a cholo. The word is not necessarily a slur, but Darryl clearly intends it as such, prompting Will to eat a stinkbug as a very middle school way of proving that he’s not “a jerk,” even if his friend is. Unsurprisingly, Will throws up. He arrives at school the next day mortified, only to find, in a turn of events that makes perfect middle school sense, that the stunt has granted him fame: He’s now Bug Boy. But Will’s problems are far from over: Tensions with Darryl continue to rise, and as he gets to know Eloy, problematic elements in Will’s own thinking and behavior begin to reveal themselves. When Will unintentionally betrays Eloy’s trust, he must decide not only how to redeem himself, but what sort of person he wants to be—and whether someone like Darryl, his lifelong friend with no apparent desire to denounce his bigotry, is someone Will wants in his life. Petruck successfully weaves such important themes as bias, solidarity, and coming to recognize one’s own privilege and prejudice together, delivering them in a plot that is so very middle school (bugs! sports!) that it will hopefully appeal to a broad audience who might not otherwise choose to read about these crucial topics.
An admirable feat that entertains even as it instructs . (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: May 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2141-0
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
A winningly authentic, realistic and heartwarming family drama.
A family crisis pushes a 12-year-old wannabe cowboy living outside Chicago in 1953 to resort to bullying and damaging pranks.
Since his baby sister’s birth, Tommy’s normally moody mother’s been like a “sky full of dark clouds.” When his older sister’s seriously burned, Tommy’s left to cope with her daily newspaper route, his increasingly abusive mother, his overwhelmed father and his younger sisters. Tommy reacts by bullying classmates, especially a shy, overweight new boy at school named Sam. When he’s caught stealing from Sam’s father’s store, Tommy retaliates by planting a copy of a communist newspaper found during a community paper drive in the store. After the owner’s accused of being a communist and the store’s boycotted, Tommy realizes he’s acting like an outlaw instead of a cowboy, and he tries to find the real communist in the neighborhood, leading to surprising discoveries and the help his family desperately needs. Speaking in the first person, Tommy reveals himself as a good-hearted, responsible kid who’s temporarily lost his moral compass. Effective use of cowboy imagery allows Tommy to step up like his hero, Gary Cooper in High Noon, and do the right thing. Period detail and historical references effectively capture the anti-communist paranoia of the McCarthy era.
A winningly authentic, realistic and heartwarming family drama. (author’s note, photos) (Historical fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-16328-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An optimistic journey of self-acceptance.
Debut author Machias’ novel explores genderfluidity and gender nonconformity as elements of navigating middle school.
Told in two alternating narrative voices, the story follows Ash and Daniel, a pair of Ohio seventh graders who are on a shared mission to rescue an old dog the world doesn’t seem to have room for, a not-so-subtle metaphor highlighting the vulnerabilities faced by all abandoned souls. Throughout their growing kinship, Ash and Daniel struggle with the divergent expectations of those around them: Ash with shifting gender presentations and Daniel with his emotionality and sensitivity. Entering a new school and feeling pressured to pick and disclose a single gender, Ash’s conflicts begin with trying to decide whether to use the boys’, girls’, or gender-neutral bathroom. The school’s diverse Rainbow Alliance is a source of support, but Ash’s parents remain split by more than divorce, with a supportive mom and a dad who tries but fails to understand genderfluidity. Daniel, who has a talent for photography, is a passionate animal lover who volunteers at a local kennel and initially believes Ash is a girl. Ash’s synesthesia amplifies the tension as Ash and Daniel discover a mutual romantic interest. The novel grapples with the impact of society’s overly simplistic messages, but the characterizations at times lack depth, and there are missed opportunities to explore the subtleties of relationships. Main characters are White.
An optimistic journey of self-acceptance. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: June 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-305389-2
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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