A satisfying read, full of real-life lessons and good-hearted characters.
As Easter approaches, sixth-grader Sophie Washington and her little brother, Cole, struggle with giving up tattling and video games for Lent in this lighthearted children’s chapter-book sequel.
Ellis (Sophie Washington: Things You Didn’t Know About Sophie, 2017, etc.) delivers another positive episode in the life of Sophie Washington, a preteen living with her family in Houston. Apart from the fact that she butts heads with her little brother on a regular basis and really wants a cellphone, she has few complaints, as she belongs to a happy family and has a diverse group of good friends. However, when Sophie’s parents decide that the family must give up something for Lent, she and Cole must confront their bad habits. Over 40 days, the two children find new ways to focus their energies, spending more time with friends, family, and a stray dog that happens to find them after school one day. Even the canine helps keep Sophie and Cole accountable to their commitments in ways that they didn’t expect. At one point, when Cole slips up, Sophie faces a dilemma, as she must decide between keeping her own Lent fast or breaking it. By the end of the story, both children grow and change in authentic ways. Young readers will relate to Sophie’s frustrations when it comes to relationships with friends, feeling left out, dealing with little brothers and moral dilemmas, and just having a bad day. She’s a realistic, engaging, and aptly flawed protagonist with room to grow as a character. Other positive aspects of the story include its uplifting portrayals of family life, faith, and multicultural friendships. The simple, black-and-white line drawings in every chapter successfully direct readers’ imaginations without overpowering them. Although the focus on daily life activities may not make it an overly exciting story, Sophie’s genuine personality and relatable experiences make it enjoyable.
A satisfying read, full of real-life lessons and good-hearted characters.Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4575-5780-4
Page Count: 102
Publisher: Dog Ear
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The charming story of a brave child’s decision to make her life better.
An exuberant, cotton-candy pink introduction to hearing loss and cochlear implants for ages 5 and up.
Little Almigal’s hearing loss doesn’t get much better with hearing aids. While Ali’s friend Penelope, whose hearing aids work for her, uses both her voice and signs to communicate, Almigal only knows a word or two of sign language, so she’s frustrated at missing out on the sounds in her world. She declares that she needs “to hear every single sound in the whole entire universe!”—especially her parents saying “We love you Almigal” when she’s in bed and not wearing her hearing aids. Her doctor suggests cochlear implants to improve her hearing, and Almigal is all for it. The book gently covers Almigal’s trip to the hospital for the operation and the importance of handling the implants carefully, as displayed in episodes where Almigal fails to treat the implants properly, thus learning how important that care can be. The implants successfully help Almigal hear all the things she’d been missing. Although the story skips the controversy surrounding cochlear implants and their place in the deaf community, the cheerful inclusiveness will be a welcome introduction for children. Kupfer—whose own daughter, Ali, was diagnosed with profound hearing loss at 10 months of age—celebrates uniqueness, while the delightful, full-page illustrations show the lively heroine and her friends and family enjoying their differences. Almigal considers herself to be the luckiest girl in the world. “Do you want to know why?” she asks. “Because I have so many friends and each one is different.”
The charming story of a brave child’s decision to make her life better.Pub Date: April 16, 2012
ISBN: 978-0983829409
Page Count: 32
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sci-fi novel that soars along with a teenage heroine whose imperfections help make her believable and endearing.
A 17-year-old pilot with a history of crashing her craft holds a planet’s fate in her hands when a human settlement on Mars runs low on food.
Flight-obsessed Jessamyn Jaarda faces the biggest mission of her life in the fourth YA sci-fi novel from Swanson (Unfurl, 2012, etc.). Fired from pilot training for crashing one craft and praised for doing the same to another, Jess inspires unpredictable reactions in people. Maybe that’s because Jess lives, as she flies, by pure instinct, and no one knows whether that trait will enable her to save her planet when, because of potential starvation for a human settlement on Mars, she must fly to Earth on a food raid. Along with her brother, however, the red-haired teenager has the courage to attempt the mission and stick with it when it goes terribly wrong. Swanson paces this story beautifully, weaving exposition tightly into the plot as disaster interrupts everyday routines. Despite the strangeness of the Martian environment, the novel quickly establishes the humanity of Jess and other characters, as when Jess tries and fails to help her brother resist a bout of claustrophobia or when she first locks eyes with her planet’s only dog and feels something sweep through her: “A something that reminded her of taking her craft toward breaking day or of watching Phobos as the swift moon zipped across the night sky. The dog was...wondrous.” At first, Jess sees everything through the lens of her obsession with flight, but she becomes far too multifaceted, distractible and passionate to be mistaken for an archetype. Watching her grow and struggle to survive makes this book hard to put down.
A sci-fi novel that soars along with a teenage heroine whose imperfections help make her believable and endearing.Pub Date: July 26, 2012
ISBN: 978-0983562160
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Williams Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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