This doubtless well-intentioned story about refugees unfortunately reinforces a primitive image of Africa and its peoples.
Idriss, who comes from an unidentified African country, loves his marble. One day, there is an explosion and people start fighting.
The unrest continues, and his mother decides it is too dangerous for them to stay. Idriss and his mother leave their village. Dramatic illustrations with strong, brushy black outlines and daubs of color portray their struggle. Mother and son endure a tenuous journey, walking through the desert, riding on crowded buses, crawling beneath barbed wire, and finally getting on a flimsy boat to cross the sea. Along the way, Idriss hangs on tight to his marble, protecting the only thing he took with him from home. The precious marble almost gets lost, as does the dream of reaching safety, but the family is very lucky. As an object of affection to a young child, the marble plays an important role in fostering connections among people—both on the road and at Idriss’ new home, which is likely in Europe. The story portrays some reasons why people could become refugees and the struggles they may experience while seeking refuge. However, the combination of artistic choices—the outsized preciousness of the single marble, the stark, impoverished landscape of Idriss’ village, the easy authority of a new white friend, and Idriss’ lack of linguistic skills, among others—does not disrupt stereotypes about Africa.
This doubtless well-intentioned story about refugees unfortunately reinforces a primitive image of Africa and its peoples. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-63592-132-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: StarBerry Books
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A kind child in a book for middle-grade readers? There’s no downside to that.
Beatrice Zinker is a kinder, gentler Judy Moody.
Beatrice doesn’t want to be fit in a box. Her first word was “WOW,” not “Mom.” She does her best thinking upside down and prefers to dress like a ninja. Like Judy Moody, she has patient parents and a somewhat annoying younger brother. (She also has a perfectly ordinary older sister.) Beatrice spends all summer planning a top-secret spy operation complete with secret codes and a secret language (pig Latin). But on the first day of third grade, her best friend, Lenny (short for Eleanor), shows up in a dress, with a new friend who wants to play veterinarian at recess. Beatrice, essentially a kind if somewhat quirky kid, struggles to see the upside of the situation and ends up with two friends instead of one. Line drawings on almost every spread add to the humor and make the book accessible to readers who might otherwise balk at its 160 pages. Thankfully, the rhymes in the text do not continue past the first chapter. Children will enjoy the frequent puns and Beatrice’s preference for climbing trees and hanging upside down. The story drifts dangerously close to pedantry when Beatrice asks for advice from a grandmotherly neighbor but is saved by likable characters and upside-down cake. Beatrice seems to be white; Lenny’s surname, Santos, suggests that she may be Latina; their school is a diverse one.
A kind child in a book for middle-grade readers? There’s no downside to that. (Fiction. 6-10)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4847-6738-2
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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