Exciting adventure and honest, insightful characterization—a winner.
In this YA novel, a mysterious caretaker, a friendly ghost, and a magic map lead to adventure for a 12-year-boy still grieving his father’s death.
Joey Johanaby, his mother, and 8-year-old twin siblings Glory and Story lost Mr. Johanaby to cancer eight months ago. The family has just moved from Idaho to Tennessee and into a 160-year-old house that’s said to be haunted—but Joey has more immediate problems. His mother needs him to babysit the unmanageable twins, without pay, while she studies online for a new career. Of course, the twins defy him, and Joey always gets the blame. One bright spot is a man named Beezer, a caretaker who has a model-filled workshop in the garage; another is Henrietta Calhoun, the resident ghost. After the family almost suffers another tragedy, Joey receives a magic map that reads, “The adventure starts in Beezer’s room. The adventure ends in your heart.” On this journey, Joey will discover the true natures of love, courage, and family. Anderson (From Hogs to Heaven: The Life of Laurel Rae Dickinson, 2011) draws on some familiar tropes—the magical journey; the dead, absent, or absent-minded parent—but in his hands, they don’t feel rehashed. Magic allows entry to a world where Joey must still rely on his own experience, strength, and courage to succeed, and his insights are well-earned: “It wasn’t danger that was the adventure” but helping others. Anderson thoughtfully depicts how children think and feel, warts and all, such as Joey’s simultaneous pride in and resentment over his responsibilities and his disappointment when a “treasure chest” hidden by Beezer contains only chocolate coins: “He wanted gold, not an object lesson.” Mrs. Johanaby, though she expects too much from Joey, isn’t a cartoon villain but a realistically overburdened woman who wants to do better. Anderson’s exploration of forgiveness is equally thoughtful—even inspiring. Humor, charm, and affection help lighten the book’s serious themes.
Exciting adventure and honest, insightful characterization—a winner.Pub Date: Nov. 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-1483961682
Page Count: 218
Publisher: Toryander Books
Review Posted Online: May 6, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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