So who wouldn’t want to hang out with Michael Jordan? That’s how Telander’s protagonist, 11-year-old Robbie Denwood, feels about Jasper Jasmine, the Jordanesque phenom of Robbie’s favorite basketball team, the fictional Thunder. Robbie yearns to be a winner like Jasper—on his school’s basketball team and in life. He’s always picked last to play on the team; his dad walked away from his family; and his mom and teen sister are constantly at odds. Whenever Robbie’s tired of being a loser, which is most of the time, he retreats from his misery to a secret fort he’s built in the woods behind his home. Here he keeps special treasures, like toy soldiers who obey his every command, a salamander, a spider, and numerous photos of Jasper Jasmine. Then, one particularly depressing day, Robbie runs away into Chicago and sneaks into a Thunder game, where he manages to meet and briefly speak to his idol. Something about the boy touches the star’s heart and he invites Robbie to become the team’s ball boy for a few weeks, much to his family’s and friends’ amazement and envy. Even better is the close bond that develops between hero and worshipful fan. Jasper becomes the only person Robbie has ever invited to the secret refuge. There, Jasper confesses that he, too, harbors personal heartaches. By novel’s end, Jasper Jasmine has taught Robbie a few life lessons and has learned some himself. Robbie develops in self-confidence and self-acceptance. Sure, this is all fantasy, but who would begrudge anyone the right to dream? Telander, lead sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, has penned an enjoyable, very readable story that boys especially will appreciate and relate to. Robbie’s a nice kid, and Jasper’s a really nice guy. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8126-2657-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Cricket
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2002
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
SEEN & HEARD
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
