A love letter to Bollywood that offers heartfelt encouragement to the lonely.
Sixth grader Sonali learns a dramatic lesson about emotional honesty.
The Southern California tween has long shouldered the burden of her parents’ nonstop arguing—distracting her little brother when it makes him cry; stuffing her own feelings; and obeying her father’s code of secrecy and stoicism. Ironically, Indian American Sonali and her best friend, Pakistani American Zara, adore Bollywood movies and all their emoting. Sonali’s Gujarati family even has a weekly Hindi movie night, reveling in the high emotions on the screen while keeping their own trapped firmly behind closed doors. But her parents’ trial separation, combined with Zara’s growing friendship with a new girl at school, pushes Sonali beyond her limit. She is stricken with “filmi magic,” waking up in an alternate, Bollywood-enhanced world in which personal soundtracks express your true mood and intense feelings lead to song-and-dance numbers. Hair, clothing, and decor even get the Technicolor Bollywood treatment. Losing control leads Sonali to explore possible solutions to her “Bollywooditis”—and the inevitable realization that she must find the courage to open up to those who love her, which in turn fosters family and friendship growth. Sonali’s distress is painfully real, showing the isolating ripple effects of parental conflict on relationships and school performance. As much of the novel centers Sonali’s inner turmoil as she spins her emotional wheels, at times repetitively, it will appeal most to readers who appreciate character-driven stories.
A love letter to Bollywood that offers heartfelt encouragement to the lonely. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6673-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey.
Separated from his pack, Swift, a young wolf, embarks on a perilous search for a new home.
Swift’s mother impresses on him early that his “pack belongs to the mountains and the mountains belong to the pack.” His father teaches him to hunt elk, avoid skunks and porcupines, revere the life that gives them life, and “carry on” when their pack is devastated in an attack by enemy wolves. Alone and grieving, Swift reluctantly leaves his mountain home. Crossing into unfamiliar territory, he’s injured and nearly dies, but the need to run, hunt, and live drives him on. Following a routine of “walk-trot-eat-rest,” Swift traverses prairies, canyons, and deserts, encountering men with rifles, hunger, thirst, highways, wild horses, a cougar, and a forest fire. Never imagining the “world could be so big or that I could be so alone in it,” Swift renames himself Wander as he reaches new mountains and finds a new home. Rife with details of the myriad scents, sounds, tastes, touches, and sights in Swift/Wander’s primal existence, the immediacy of his intimate, first-person, present-tense narration proves deeply moving, especially his longing for companionship. Realistic black-and-white illustrations trace key events in this unique survival story, and extensive backmatter fills in further factual information about wolves and their habitat.
A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey. (additional resources, map) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-289593-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
Poet Alexander deftly reveals the power of the format to pack an emotional punch.
Basketball-playing twins find challenges to their relationship on and off the court as they cope with changes in their lives.
Josh Bell and his twin, Jordan, aka JB, are stars of their school basketball team. They are also successful students, since their educator mother will stand for nothing else. As the two middle schoolers move to a successful season, readers can see their differences despite the sibling connection. After all, Josh has dreadlocks and is quiet on court, and JB is bald and a trash talker. Their love of the sport comes from their father, who had also excelled in the game, though his championship was achieved overseas. Now, however, he does not have a job and seems to have health problems the parents do not fully divulge to the boys. The twins experience their first major rift when JB is attracted to a new girl in their school, and Josh finds himself without his brother. This novel in verse is rich in character and relationships. Most interesting is the family dynamic that informs so much of the narrative, which always reveals, never tells. While Josh relates the story, readers get a full picture of major and minor players. The basketball action provides energy and rhythm for a moving story.
Poet Alexander deftly reveals the power of the format to pack an emotional punch. (Verse fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-10771-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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