Though the first-person narrator is a bit of a brat, elementary schoolers will likely enjoy her snarky approach to life.
This second entry in Suerth’s (Crazy Summer, 2013) middle-grade series follows fifth-grader Sofie Czerny through her first few months at a new school in Stevens Point, Wis.
Sofie’s family—herself, her parents and little sister, Izzy—lives with her Grandma Ursula, a scatterbrained free spirit and owner of the titular wig. Rather, she’s the former owner, since Sofie accidentally set it on fire in the previous book. But miracle of miracles, when Grandma Ursula drags Sofie to a thrift store on a school-supplies shopping trip, she finds a new-to-her wig in the same style—a “poop-color brown fur ball, shaped like a football helmet,” as Sofie snidely refers to it. More episodic slices of life follow: Sofie’s lonely first day of school; an embarrassing lice outbreak that she blames on Grandma Ursula’s used wig; failed flirtation with her dreamy neighbor, Andrew; a mortifying YouTube fiasco involving an Xbox-aided dance routine that Sofie unwisely chooses to do in her underwear and training bra. It all culminates in her other (and favorite) grandmother’s Black Friday wedding to motorcycle-riding, ponytailed Earl Lee Burd, who shows up with Hannah, the redheaded granddaughter he raised, with whom Sofie becomes friends. There’s a good deal of madcap action and several embarrassing moments, and kids Sofie’s age and a little younger will be plenty amused. Older readers, especially adults, may be less charmed by the humor and Sofie’s asides: She’s often mean-spirited, as when she complains about the “gross smell” of the thrift store or arbitrarily decides to find reasons not to like Earl Lee. Her continued dislike of Grandma Ursula also seems unfair; despite her dubious taste in wigs, Ursula is a fun, if flighty, character, the kind who could easily be the beloved “wacky grandma” in a different series.
Though the first-person narrator is a bit of a brat, elementary schoolers will likely enjoy her snarky approach to life.Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0988268517
Page Count: 162
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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