Next book

THE BOY WHO WOKE THE SUN

Moving and serious yet leavened with humor.

A boy must journey across unknown lands while avoiding menacing butterflies.

Eleven-year-old Elliot Wood is having a rough start to the summer. His family members are engrossed in phones and work, and the news is filled with the pandemic, climate disasters, and other worrisome things, but he takes comfort in the ocean and observing marine life. One night, Elliot wakes up, trapped within his nightmare and lost at sea on an island of plastic garbage he’d read about. After being chased by a giant masked man, he discovers he’s been transported to Lappanthia, a world shrouded in darkness. Lappanthia is plagued by butterflies whose “sole purpose is to make you feel so sad, you wish you’d never been born.” Elliot learns the only way home is a 10-day journey through wild terrain. Along with new friends—a talking octopus and an old woman named Granny Yilba—Elliot must face his fears and evade the evil butterflies to return home. Although the subject matter is heavy, this well-paced fantasy is full of lighter moments that are enhanced by the black-and-white illustrations. It explores emotional pain while guiding readers to think about who they are and what brings them happiness. Themes of pollution, kids as changemakers, friendship, family, and self-discovery recur throughout, with everything working together cohesively and offering readers new perspectives to ponder. Elliot is shown with dark hair and lightly shaded skin.

Moving and serious yet leavened with humor. (author interview) (Fantasy. 8-12)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2023

ISBN: 9780889956858

Page Count: 240

Publisher: Red Deer Press

Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023

Next book

CHARLOTTE'S WEB

The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...

A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.

Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.

The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.

Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952

ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0

Page Count: 192

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952

Next book

GHOSTS

Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...

Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.

Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.

Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016

Close Quickview