HERO

Name: HERO
Author: Sarah Lean
ISBN: 978-0-06-212238-4

by Sarah Lean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 13, 2015

A compelling, thought-provoking story about the fights and brave acts—big and small, acclaimed and unattributed—that define...

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Young Leo learns that being a hero isn’t about the accolades.

Leo’s English town is built on Roman ruins, and Roman history influences his imagination. Where in real life Leo feels insignificant, in his dreams he’s a heroic gladiator winning the approval of Jupiter. So when Warren, a schoolyard god of sorts, invites Leo to join him and his friends, Leo jumps at the chance. First he must prove his bravery and loyalty. The trials end badly, shaming Leo, especially when stalwart pup Jack Pepper gets hurt in the process. Leo’s guilt is compounded after he spins events so it sounds as though he rescued Jack—a story almost everyone in town believes. Tightly structured and plotted, the novel’s every element and development move the story forward. Leo narrates, allowing readers to fully experience his growing unease with his deception and alienation from family and friends. Leo seems to be digging himself into a hole when a meteor hits, opening a huge sinkhole in the middle of town that swallows Jack Pepper. In the process of recovering and restoring Jack to his neighbor and role model, Grizzly Allen, Leo learns heaps about honesty, friendship, dreams and real greatness.

A compelling, thought-provoking story about the fights and brave acts—big and small, acclaimed and unattributed—that define us. (Fiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-06-212238-4

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
A HUNDRED HORSES
by Sarah Lean

- BOOK REVIEW
A DOG CALLED HOMELESS
by Sarah Lean

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CLUES TO THE UNIVERSE

by Christina Li ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 12, 2021

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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NUMBER THE STARS

by Lois Lowry ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1989

A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit...

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The author of the Anastasia books as well as more serious fiction (Rabble Starkey, 1987) offers her first historical fiction—a story about the escape of the Jews from Denmark in 1943.

Five years younger than Lisa in Carol Matas' Lisa's War (1989), Annemarie Johansen has, at 10, known three years of Nazi occupation. Though ever cautious and fearful of the ubiquitous soldiers, she is largely unaware of the extent of the danger around her; the Resistance kept even its participants safer by telling them as little as possible, and Annemarie has never been told that her older sister Lise died in its service. When the Germans plan to round up the Jews, the Johansens take in Annemarie's friend, Ellen Rosen, and pretend she is their daughter; later, they travel to Uncle Hendrik's house on the coast, where the Rosens and other Jews are transported by fishing boat to Sweden. Apart from Lise's offstage death, there is little violence here; like Annemarie, the reader is protected from the full implications of events—but will be caught up in the suspense and menace of several encounters with soldiers and in Annemarie's courageous run as courier on the night of the escape. The book concludes with the Jews' return, after the war, to homes well kept for them by their neighbors.

A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit of riding alone in Copenhagen, but for their Jews. (Historical fiction. 9-12)