Cammy is first seen paying one of her regular visits to a nursing home to see her grandmother, Gram Tut, undeterred by rules that say children must be accompanied by adults. But though Cammy is sensitive and loving with Gram Tut, she's no saint: she despises her cousin Patty Ann, who lives in a fancy house, is pampered by an obnoxious mother, and seems to be best at everything she does. On a day-camp trip, while Cammy is in the complex throes of jealousy involving not only Patty Ann but Elodie, a more distant cousin whose mother is a migrant worker, Patty Ann drowns while saving Elodie from a flooding stream. Cammy is torn by guilt and the mistaken conviction that Patty Ann's courageous death was a last taunt of superiority—exacerbated by Cammy's mother's bizarre expressions of grief. In a warm, typical Hamilton conclusion, Cammy's whole family rallies to comfort and bring her back to herself; even Gram Tut makes an extraordinary visit to their home. Unusual, skillfully drawn characters and relationships involve readers in the early part of this story, which picks up its pace as the girls' bickering and jockeying for precedence is suddenly transformed into the suspenseful, ironic tragedy and its aftermath. Another wise, beautifully written book from this well-established master.
Pub Date: Sept. 27, 1991
ISBN: 0-399-22164-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
Categories: GENERAL GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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SEEN & HEARD
Families in a variety of configurations play, dance, and celebrate together.
The rhymed verse, based on a song from the Noodle Loaf children’s podcast, declares that “Families belong / Together like a puzzle / Different-sized people / One big snuggle.” The accompanying image shows an interracial couple of caregivers (one with brown skin and one pale) cuddling with a pajama-clad toddler with light brown skin and surrounded by two cats and a dog. Subsequent pages show a wide array of families with members of many different racial presentations engaging in bike and bus rides, indoor dance parties, and more. In some, readers see only one caregiver: a father or a grandparent, perhaps. One same-sex couple with two children in tow are expecting another child. Smart’s illustrations are playful and expressive, curating the most joyful moments of family life. The verse, punctuated by the word together, frequently set in oversized font, is gently inclusive at its best but may trip up readers with its irregular rhythms. The song that inspired the book can be found on the Noodle Loaf website.
A joyful celebration. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22276-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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