Amusing and compelling—though hopefully, we’ll next read about Lexi in her own words.
A semiautobiographical story from 13-year-old Lexi tells of her worries leading into her second Deep Brain Stimulation surgery.
Lexi’s been disabled since she was a baby, scarcely able to control her muscles or speak. Home-schooled (though, as she reminds readers, not for religious reasons like many other home-schoolers in her Charlotte, North Carolina, community), she’s incredibly bright: reading young and starting to learn French at 5. She starts off communicating by moving magnetic refrigerator letters on a cookie sheet and experiments with different assistive technology communication devices. This ostensibly first-person perspective from Lexi—including her author’s note—is written by her mother based on conversations between mother and daughter via alphabet magnet and gesture (Lexi contributes several paragraphs to the author’s note). Lexi, as portrayed here, is a cheeky White kid who loves jokes, fanfic, and her four siblings. Lexi is a believable and likable young person. Five- and 6-year-old Lexi, in flashbacks, has a frustratingly indistinguishable internal voice from the teenager, but she’s still a clever and compelling narrator. Her mother’s voice rarely dominates; her mother’s concern about the possible malpractice that led to Lexi’s brain injury seems of little interest to Lexi herself. It’s important that Lexi is a real, funny, smart, geeky kid. It is also important that she’s not the one telling us so, despite the first-person narrative voice.
Amusing and compelling—though hopefully, we’ll next read about Lexi in her own words. (authors’ note, doctor’s note) (Fictionalized memoir. 9-12)Pub Date: April 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73422-593-8
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Penelope Editions
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
A tighter focus would make this fascinating life story even more intriguing.
In this graphic memoir by sports journalist Shah, a ninth grader pursues his passion in the face of familial expectations pushing him toward a medical career, while also navigating the perils of high school social life.
It’s 1995, and Indian American Amar is desperate to meet the Chicago Bulls—Michael Jordan, in particular—when they stop by his Orlando, Florida, school. A lucky break leads him to his first sports interview, with Phil Jackson, and his tenacity takes him further, leading to multiple conversations with Shaquille O’Neal. But Amar’s luck in journalism doesn’t spill over to his relationship with his crush, blond Kasey Page (“like a mixture of Cameron Diaz, Tinkerbell, and heaven”), or his efforts to remain close with best friends Rohit and Cherian, who start spending more time with other classmates. The work relies on captions as much as plot developments to propel the story. It also follows a broad cast of characters—close and former friends, antagonists, supportive adults, and famous athletes—who appear in multiple storylines. The story accurately depicts the complexities of life as a young teen, though overlapping life challenges pull it in multiple directions, leaving some threads underexplored and hastily wrapped up. Doucet illustrates the characters using loose, disjointed outlines that give the artwork a sense of movement, and the colorful backgrounds use patterns and action lines to indicate a wide array of emotions.
A tighter focus would make this fascinating life story even more intriguing. (author’s note, photographs) (Graphic memoir. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9781546110514
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In no particular order and using no set criteria for his selections, veteran sportscaster Berman pays tribute to an arbitrary gallery of baseball stars—all familiar names and, except for the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez, retired from play for decades. Repeatedly taking the stance that statistics are just numbers but then reeling off batting averages, home-run totals, wins (for pitchers) and other data as evidence of greatness, he offers career highlights in a folksy narrative surrounded by photos, side comments and baseball-card–style notes in side boxes. Readers had best come to this with some prior knowledge, since he casually drops terms like “slugging percentage,” “dead ball era” and “barnstorming” without explanation and also presents a notably superficial picture of baseball’s history—placing the sport’s “first half-century” almost entirely in the 1900s, for instance, and condescendingly noting that Jackie Robinson’s skill led Branch Rickey to decide that he “was worthy of becoming the first black player to play in the majors.” The awesome feats of Ruth, Mantle, the Gibsons Bob and Josh, Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb and the rest are always worth a recap—but this one’s strictly minor league. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4022-3886-4
Page Count: 138
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2010
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.
