Patrick's problem with reading stems from the trauma of his long-absent father calling him ``Stupid'' and locking him in a closet. By fifth grade, his panic when confronted with the printed word has been reinforced by insensitive teachers, by a bully who taunts him, and by his own failures. Then luck provides two friends—a fine teacher (Mrs. Romero) and a neighbor/classmate. What begins as a shy chess game on the outdoor board where Patrick has been playing against himself becomes real rapport when Celina, brimming with contagious enthusiasm, reads him The Sword and the Stone. Patrick's fright when she suggests he take a turn is a brief setback; but in time he reciprocates by telling her a story that she records and, without telling him, submits to a contest. It wins, but Patrick's first response is fury—at her betrayal and his continued inability to read. Still, his story's success and the confidence of Celina, Mrs. Romero, and his hard-working mother help Patrick begin to find his own honorable way out of his terror and unlock the pleasures of books. Though rather implausibly wise and empathetic, Mrs. Romero and Celina are likable, while the sabotaging of Patrick's real gifts by his long-held fears—and his difficult decision to pull his own metaphorical sword from its stone—are subtly portrayed. Lively and well plotted, with funny—as well as touching—scenes and a satisfyingly upbeat ending. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-8234-1045-5
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1993
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share.
A multiaward–winning author recalls her childhood and the joy of becoming a writer.
Writing in free verse, Woodson starts with her 1963 birth in Ohio during the civil rights movement, when America is “a country caught / / between Black and White.” But while evoking names such as Malcolm, Martin, James, Rosa and Ruby, her story is also one of family: her father’s people in Ohio and her mother’s people in South Carolina. Moving south to live with her maternal grandmother, she is in a world of sweet peas and collards, getting her hair straightened and avoiding segregated stores with her grandmother. As the writer inside slowly grows, she listens to family stories and fills her days and evenings as a Jehovah’s Witness, activities that continue after a move to Brooklyn to reunite with her mother. The gift of a composition notebook, the experience of reading John Steptoe’s Stevieand Langston Hughes’ poetry, and seeing letters turn into words and words into thoughts all reinforce her conviction that “[W]ords are my brilliance.” Woodson cherishes her memories and shares them with a graceful lyricism; her lovingly wrought vignettes of country and city streets will linger long after the page is turned.
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share. (Memoir/poetry. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-25251-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many.
Young Raina is 9 when she throws up for the first time that she remembers, due to a stomach bug. Even a year later, when she is in fifth grade, she fears getting sick.
Raina begins having regular stomachaches that keep her home from school. She worries about sharing food with her friends and eating certain kinds of foods, afraid of getting sick or food poisoning. Raina’s mother enrolls her in therapy. At first Raina isn’t sure about seeing a therapist, but over time she develops healthy coping mechanisms to deal with her stress and anxiety. Her therapist helps her learn to ground herself and relax, and in turn she teaches her classmates for a school project. Amping up the green, wavy lines to evoke Raina’s nausea, Telgemeier brilliantly produces extremely accurate visual representations of stress and anxiety. Thought bubbles surround Raina in some panels, crowding her with anxious “what if”s, while in others her negative self-talk appears to be literally crushing her. Even as she copes with anxiety disorder and what is eventually diagnosed as mild irritable bowel syndrome, she experiences the typical stresses of school life, going from cheer to panic in the blink of an eye. Raina is white, and her classmates are diverse; one best friend is Korean American.
With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many. (Graphic memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-545-85251-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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