Five kids go on a scavenger hunt to make a sleepover soup that will grant their wishes.
Seattleite Leilani is hapa haole, part white and part Hawaiian. Her goal for the sixth grade is to become one of the Haileys, the popular group in school. To show the Haileys she is fun, Leilani throws a Hawaiian luau sleepover. Unfortunately, the invitations actually go to the “DO NOT invite” list: her cousin who farts, Manga Girl (aka Tanisha), and the new boy who has selective mutism. At least her best friend, Autumn, comes too. Bored and hungry, the group decides to make great-grandmother Tutu’s recipe for sleepover soup, a magic soup that requires each of them to add a special ingredient. The scavenger hunt unveils unexpected truths about each of them. Selfors’ novel springs from the classic folktale “Stone Soup” and incorporates tidbits of Hawaiian culture and cosmology, often introduced in Tutu’s sometimes clunkily expository dialogue. Since mainlander Leilani is largely ignorant of her own culture, this didacticism works within the plot, though coverage of cosmology is relatively slight. Overall, the story models not judging others, showing empathy, and friendship. The characters are all very different—an athlete, an artist, a book lover, a child with anxiety, and a girl desperate to be included—appealing to a broad audience. Tanisha is depicted as black on the cover; the other sleepover guests seem to be white.
A good book on empathy and friendship, with some Hawaiian culture mixed in. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-10974-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Imprint
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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With Ivan’s movie out this year from Disney, expect great interest—it will be richly rewarded.
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Tiny, sassy Bob the dog, friend of The One and Only Ivan (2012), returns to tell his tale.
Wisecracking Bob, who is a little bit Chihuahua among other things, now lives with his girl, Julia, and her parents. Happily, her father works at Wildworld Zoological Park and Sanctuary, the zoo where Bob’s two best friends, Ivan the gorilla and Ruby the elephant, live, so Bob gets to visit and catch up with them regularly. Due to an early betrayal, Bob doesn’t trust humans (most humans are good only for their thumbs); he fears he’s going soft living with Julia, and he’s certain he is a Bad Dog—as in “not a good representative of my species.” On a visit to the zoo with a storm threatening, Bob accidentally falls into the gorilla enclosure just as a tornado strikes. So that’s what it’s like to fly. In the storm’s aftermath, Bob proves to everyone (and finally himself) that there is a big heart in that tiny chest…and a brave one too. With this companion, Applegate picks up where her Newbery Medal winner left off, and fans will be overjoyed to ride along in the head of lovable, self-deprecating Bob on his storm-tossed adventure. His wry doggy observations and attitude are pitch perfect (augmented by the canine glossary and Castelao’s picture dictionary of dog postures found in the frontmatter). Gorilla Ivan described Julia as having straight, black hair in the previous title, and Castelao's illustrations in that volume showed her as pale-skinned. (Finished art not available for review.)
With Ivan’s movie out this year from Disney, expect great interest—it will be richly rewarded. (afterword) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299131-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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There’s a monster in Sidwell, Massachusetts, that can only be seen at night or, as Twig reveals, if passersby are near her house.
It’s her older brother, James, born with wings just like every male in the Fowler line for the last 200 years. They were cursed by the Witch of Sidwell, left brokenhearted by their forebear Lowell Fowler. Twig and James are tired of the secret and self-imposed isolation. Lonely Twig narrates, bringing the small town and its characters to life, intertwining events present and past, and describing the effects of the spell on her fractured family’s daily life. Longing for some normalcy and companionship, she befriends new-neighbor Julia while James falls in love with Julia’s sister, Agate—only to learn they are descendants of the Witch. James and Agate seem as star-crossed as their ancestors, especially when the townspeople attribute a spate of petty thefts and graffiti protesting the development of the woods to the monster and launch a hunt. The mix of romance and magic is irresistible and the tension, compelling. With the help of friends and through a series of self-realizations and discoveries, Twig grows more self-assured. She is certain she knows how to change the curse. In so doing, Twig not only changes James’ fate, but her own, for the first time feeling the fullness of family, friends and hope for the future.
Enchanting. (Magical realism. 9-12)Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-38958-7
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
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