A poignant exploration of healing and growth.
Sometimes magic happens in the most unexpected ways.
The Italian Australian tween protagonist, nicknamed “Bones” by class mean girl Edie because of her collection of found skeletal remains, narrates her tale: It’s the end of term, and she and her classmates will be transitioning to middle school in the autumn. Bones will be going to the local middle school, but Edie, along with Bones’ former friend, Aiko, who’s fallen in with Edie, will be going to “the posh school for girls / on the other side of town.” Bones has lived in an apartment with Nonna Frankie since Mum went north to a mining town to find better employment. Her departure may also have been partially fueled by grief; Bones’ younger brother, Nico, died tragically less than a year ago, and each family member feels his loss keenly. While exploring one day, Bones comes across a bird skeleton, and her wish to bring it back to life has unexpected results. The skeleton reanimates—and can talk—and it’s up to Bones and new neighbor Tenny, who’s nonbinary, to discover how. This novel in verse explores themes of isolation, friendship, and grief. Striving and reluctant readers will find it particularly accessible; the economical poems written in conversational language offer an ideal introduction to deeper topics and ideas. Teow’s delicate spot art illustrations adorn the text, showcasing Bones’ collection of nature finds.
A poignant exploration of healing and growth. (Verse fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781665985086
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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