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HONEST JUNE

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

From the Honest June series , Vol. 2

A heavy-handed echo of its predecessor.

June Jackson returns with more lessons to learn about half-truths and pleasing people.

Eleven-year-old June believes she has this whole truth-telling curse figured out after her explosive revelation to her parents. As long as she can pour every not-so-nice thought into her private blog, she can still appear to be the perfect friend and daughter. This becomes even more important when she realizes her two best friends, Lee and Nia, may have a mutual crush. As June determines how she will navigate this emotional minefield, she tries out for The Wiz, her school’s musical for the year, despite her already full schedule. Fearing disappointing her academically focused father again, June keeps her role as Dorothy a secret. Eventually, however, June runs out of ways to avoid telling the truth, forcing her to deal with the fallout of her actions. Just when she thinks she’s got things figured out, the unimaginable happens, sending her world into a tailspin. Like its predecessor, this first-person narrative quickly progresses through its diffuse plot as June learns that how you tell the truth matters just as much as the fact of telling the truth itself. The sudden ending comes as June prepares for her next adventure and will leave readers wanting a more satisfying and fully developed resolution. June and other characters are Black. Final art not seen.

A heavy-handed echo of its predecessor. (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-593-37927-1

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022

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CHARLOTTE'S WEB

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

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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

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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

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