A silly and fast-paced adventure that’s sure to appeal to pet lovers.
Wedgie, a slow-witted, exuberantly enthusiastic dog, and Gizmo, a conniving, Evil Genius guinea pig, share their newly blended household with Jasmine and Jackson, and their stepsib, Elliot.
Wedgie, generating a little good-natured bathroom humor, lives in the moment, savoring Gizmo poop just as much as a stolen muffin. Gizmo is a schemer in this, their second adventure, as he finds a way to acquire a drone he can ride by simply ordering it on the internet. In another plotline, Jasmine is jealous of Elliot’s trophies and is determined to get one of her own by winning a school pet contest with Wedgie. Pinkie, a pig that’s just moved in, presents some competition, especially since Wedgie isn’t much of a thinker and Pinkie knows plenty of tricks. Although Gizmo’s thwarted in his scheme to shrink Wedgie and Pinkie in the dryer, the arrival of his drone offers new opportunities. Only Abuela, Jasmine and Jackson’s elderly grandmother from Peru, is on to Gizmo’s schemes, and she proves to be an enabler, bringing the drone to the pet contest so that Gizmo can create the havoc he aspires to, with Wedgie saving the day. The brief text is liberally sprinkled with Fisinger’s lively illustrations, which depict this blended family as an interracial one.
A silly and fast-paced adventure that’s sure to appeal to pet lovers. (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: April 17, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-244765-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
A Christmas cozy, read straight or bit by bit through the season.
Neither snow nor rain nor mountains of yummy cheese stay the carrier of a letter to Santa.
So carelessly does 8-year-old Oliver stuff his very late letter to Santa into the mailbox that it falls out behind his back—leaving Winston, a “small, grubby white mouse” with an outsized heart, determined to deliver it personally though he has no idea where to go. Smith presents Winston’s Christmas Eve trek in 24 minichapters, each assigned a December “day” and all closing with both twists or cliffhangers and instructions (mostly verbal, unfortunately) for one or more holiday-themed recipes or craft projects. Though he veers occasionally into preciosity (Winston “tried to ignore the grumbling, rumbling noises coming from his tummy”), he also infuses his holiday tale with worthy values. Occasional snowy scenes have an Edwardian look appropriate to the general tone, with a white default in place but a few dark-skinned figures in view. Less-crafty children will struggle with the scantly illustrated projects, which run from paper snowflakes to clothespin dolls and Christmas crackers with or without “snaps,” but lyrics to chestnuts like “The 12 Days of Christmas” (and “Jingle Bells,” which is not a Christmas song, but never mind) at the end invite everyone to sing along.
A Christmas cozy, read straight or bit by bit through the season. (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68412-983-6
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Silver Dolphin
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet and entertaining series opener about family and friendship.
Nina is worried that her best friend, Jay, might not be her best friend anymore.
Nina Soni has been best friends with Jay Davenport since before she was born. But when Jay’s cousins move to town, he has less and less time for Nina—so little time, in fact, that she wonders if they’re still best friends. Nina is so distracted that she forgets about her Personal Narrative Project, an assignment in which Nina is supposed to write about something interesting that’s happened to her. At first, Nina wonders how she’ll ever write the essay when her family—and, by extension, her life—is so boring. But when Jay announces that he’s going to write the best PNP ever, Nina sees his challenge as a way to recover their friendship. Sheth’s language is poetic in its simplicity, and her narratorial voice is a pleasure to read. The book particularly sparkles whenever Nina interacts with her small but tightknit family, especially when she has to rescue her quirky younger sister, Kavita, from endless scrapes. The conflict between Nina and Jay, however, feels forced and tangential to the story, which really centers on Nina’s personal narrative and her loving, albeit exasperating, relationship with her family. Both Nina and Jay are Indian American; she on both sides of her family and he through his mother (his father is white).
A sweet and entertaining series opener about family and friendship. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68263-057-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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