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ALL FOUR STARS

Name: ALL FOUR STARS
Author: Tara Dairman
ISBN: 978-0-399-16252-7

by Tara Dairman ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 10, 2014

This entertaining story about the joy of following one’s bliss is marred by some clunky plotting.

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A preteen restaurant critic is born.

After being banned from cooking because she accidentally set the kitchen curtains on fire with a blowtorch—her parents really should have given her the minitorch she wanted for her birthday—a misdirected letter gets Gladys Gatsby, a girl with a serious passion for food, a freelance assignment reviewing a restaurant for the New York Standard. They don’t know she’s only 11. Plum assignment in hand, Gladys, who is too young to travel into the city by herself, has to figure out a way to get there, get into the restaurant and sample all the food on the menu without alerting her clueless-in-the-kitchen parents. Impossible? Maybe not, as Gladys turns out to be surprisingly canny and resourceful. The side effect of all this scheming is that it requires Gladys to find allies, a serendipitous event for this loner heroine, who by the end of the story has forged some real friendships. That aspect of the tale is warming, and Gladys’ psychological journey and personal transformation are solid and credible. Less so the plot machinations, which require a major suspension of belief, as do the portrayals of her oblivious parents and a clichéd queen bee.

This entertaining story about the joy of following one’s bliss is marred by some clunky plotting. (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: July 10, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-399-16252-7

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 13, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GIRL FROM EARTH'S END
by Tara Dairman

- BOOK REVIEW
DESERT GIRL, MONSOON BOY
by Tara Dairman ; illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GREAT HIBERNATION
by Tara Dairman ; illustrated by Rebecca Green

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CLUES TO THE UNIVERSE

by Christina Li ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 12, 2021

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.

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An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.

Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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A WOLF CALLED WANDER

by Rosanne Parry ; illustrated by Mónica Armiño ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2019

A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey.

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Separated from his pack, Swift, a young wolf, embarks on a perilous search for a new home.

Swift’s mother impresses on him early that his “pack belongs to the mountains and the mountains belong to the pack.” His father teaches him to hunt elk, avoid skunks and porcupines, revere the life that gives them life, and “carry on” when their pack is devastated in an attack by enemy wolves. Alone and grieving, Swift reluctantly leaves his mountain home. Crossing into unfamiliar territory, he’s injured and nearly dies, but the need to run, hunt, and live drives him on. Following a routine of “walk-trot-eat-rest,” Swift traverses prairies, canyons, and deserts, encountering men with rifles, hunger, thirst, highways, wild horses, a cougar, and a forest fire. Never imagining the “world could be so big or that I could be so alone in it,” Swift renames himself Wander as he reaches new mountains and finds a new home. Rife with details of the myriad scents, sounds, tastes, touches, and sights in Swift/Wander’s primal existence, the immediacy of his intimate, first-person, present-tense narration proves deeply moving, especially his longing for companionship. Realistic black-and-white illustrations trace key events in this unique survival story, and extensive backmatter fills in further factual information about wolves and their habitat.

A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey. (additional resources, map) (Fiction. 8-12)