An energetic romp through a young boy’s comedic quest and a warmly told tale of youth and family.
Chaos ensues when a young boy believes he’s uncovered a loophole that entitles him to thousands of doughnuts for pennies on the dollar in Thomas Tosi’s middle-grade book.
Personal space and possessions can be difficult to find in a large family, and New Hampshire fifth grader Abe Mitchell sometimes finds the situation stifling. He just wants something that he can truly call his own, and one day, he thinks he’s found just the thing when his father wins a coupon for a free doughnut from the local Sweetly Crisp doughnut shop. Abe believes that because the coupon claims its cash equivalent is 1/20 of a cent, then he should be able to use it—along with $3, which he received from his younger sister Peg—to buy a grand total of 6,000 doughnuts. His attempt to cash in on his scheme results in a food fight, perhaps started by his crush Marlene, that results in unexpected fame and a comically tense standoff with Marlene’s father, the grumpy owner of the doughnut shop. Determined to claim his thousands of doughnuts, Abe later sets his sights on the Judge Sally Rules show to get justice, but things may not pan out the way he wants. Throughout the narrative, Thomas Tosi weaves in comic shenanigans involving other members of Abe’s large family; for example, his twin older brothers attempt to cash in on a viral video of their older cousin, a would-be lawyer who speaks with a Southern twang, which shows her being hit by a doughnut during the food fight. In a side plot, Tosi sweetly develops the relationship between Abe and Peg, who struggles with a lack of self-confidence and lives in the shadow of her four older siblings. The black-and-white line drawings by Meaghan Tosi, the author’s daughter, are delightful, featuring images that employ the same humorous exaggeration and mock-serious tone that pervade the text.
An energetic romp through a young boy’s comedic quest and a warmly told tale of youth and family.Pub Date: June 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-954782-01-3
Page Count: 284
Publisher: Dooney Press
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A richly atmospheric page-turner—readers will eagerly anticipate the forthcoming sequel.
Young Seren Rhys stands on the cusp of a new life. Unfortunately for her, the train to her new life is late.
Following the death of her aunt, who saved her from her 12-year stay at the orphanage, she receives word that her godfather, Capt. Arthur Jones, will take her in. Seren spends her wait dreaming of the Jones family and their surely bustling, welcoming manor, Plas-y-Fran in Wales. An encounter with a mysterious man and his more mysterious wrapped parcel (containing the eponymous mechanical bird) leaves Seren reeling, and the mysteries multiply when she arrives at Plas-y-Fran. The place is shuttered and cold, nearly deserted but for a few fearful, oppressively unforthcoming servants. The captain and his wife are away; of their young son, Tomos, there is neither sign nor sound. With the Crow as her only, if reluctant, ally, Seren soon finds herself enmeshed in mayhem and magic that may prove lethal. In her characteristic style, Fisher crafts an elaborate fantasy from deceptively simple language. Seren is a sharp, saucy narrator whose constant puzzlement at others’ consternation over her impertinence provides running amusement. Supporting characters are fascinating if ambiguous players, not so much poorly drawn as poorly revealed, perhaps casualties of the quick pace. The deadened manor, however, provides the perfect backdrop for preternatural forces. Characters are presumed white.
A richly atmospheric page-turner—readers will eagerly anticipate the forthcoming sequel. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1491-8
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Walker US/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
A solid debut: fluent, funny and eminently sequel-worthy.
Inventively tweaking a popular premise, Jensen pits two Incredibles-style families with superpowers against each other—until a new challenge rises to unite them.
The Johnsons invariably spit at the mere mention of their hated rivals, the Baileys. Likewise, all Baileys habitually shake their fists when referring to the Johnsons. Having long looked forward to getting a superpower so that he too can battle his clan’s nemeses, Rafter Bailey is devastated when, instead of being able to fly or something else cool, he acquires the “power” to strike a match on soft polyester. But when hated classmate Juanita Johnson turns up newly endowed with a similarly bogus power and, against all family tradition, they compare notes, it becomes clear that something fishy is going on. Both families regard themselves as the heroes and their rivals as the villains. Someone has been inciting them to fight each other. Worse yet, that someone has apparently developed a device that turns real superpowers into silly ones. Teaching themselves on the fly how to get past their prejudice and work together, Rafter, his little brother, Benny, and Juanita follow a well-laid-out chain of clues and deductions to the climactic discovery of a third, genuinely nefarious family, the Joneses, and a fiendishly clever scheme to dispose of all the Baileys and Johnsons at once. Can they carry the day?
A solid debut: fluent, funny and eminently sequel-worthy. (Adventure. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-06-220961-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
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