A touching tale about a parent’s death and the birth of a passion for animals.
A tween, grieving her mother’s death, finds solace on a trip to a Thai elephant sanctuary in this debut middle-grade novel.
Six months ago, something happened that changed 12-year-old Quinn’s life: Her mother crashed into a tree while skiing during a storm. When her mother died, Quinn’s sense of normalcy went with her, and half a year later, she is still haunted by the fatal accident that she witnessed. Her Aunt Lizzie takes her on a two-week trip to Orawan Elephant Sanctuary in Thailand in an effort to find a new way for her to heal. Quinn is apprehensive at best in the hot, humid climate that’s so different from her native Colorado. She’s the only kid there besides a boy her age named Hunter and she feels completely isolated; she’s still overwhelmed by her grief for her mother. The first elephant she meets is Sumana, whose history of abuse seriously upsets Quinn: “Like a turtle, I want to pull back inside my shell and shut it all out.” When an orphan baby elephant named Lee Lawa Dee is brought to the sanctuary, Quinn empathizes with her and becomes deeply invested in her rapidly diminishing well-being. Quinn comes up with an idea that she is sure will work, but finds that convincing the sanctuary’s workers to implement it is a completely different story. Greenway’s emotional rollercoaster of a novel does not shy away from the complexities of healing from trauma. While Quinn’s ping-ponging between her emotions and her savior complex regarding Lee Lawa Dee may seem repetitive or intense, the process teaches readers that recovery is not a straight line. The small cast of characters is well developed, with all of the players having clear arcs, whether it’s Kristen, the sanctuary’s assistant director, learning to accept help with Lee Lawa Dee or Aunt Lizzie coming to terms with her own grief. This is a book that will appeal especially to animal lovers, including fans of Barbara O’Connor’s Wish (2016).
A touching tale about a parent’s death and the birth of a passion for animals.Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9781684632688
Page Count: 160
Publisher: SparkPress
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
The greeting-card art and jokey rhymes work for the baby-shower market but not for the youngest readers.
Animal parents declare their love for their offspring through rhymed puns and sentimental art.
The title sets the scene for what’s to come: The owl asks the owlet as they fly together, “WHOO loves you?”; the kangaroo and joey make each other “very HOPPY”; and the lioness and cub are a “PURRRFECT pair.” Most of the puns are both unimaginative and groanworthy, and they are likely to go over the heads of toddlers, who are not know for their wordplay abilities. The text is set in abcb quatrains split over two double-page spreads. On each spread, one couplet appears on the verso within a lightly decorated border on pastel pages. On the recto, a full-bleed portrait of the animal and baby appears in softly colored and cozy images. Hearts are prominent on every page, floating between the parent and baby as if it is necessary to show the love between each pair. Although these critters are depicted in mistily conceived natural habitats and are unclothed, they are human stand-ins through and through.
The greeting-card art and jokey rhymes work for the baby-shower market but not for the youngest readers. (Board book. 6 mos-2)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7282-1374-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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