Van Draanen's first book has a crackling pace, funny lines, and an iron-willed heroine with a knack for putting herself in the center of all the action. Sixth-grader Carolyn doesn't act like a girl, and doesn't look much like one either, clad in boys clothing and wearing her hair very short. She likes to spy on the neighbors with her two brothers, play stickball, and dig foxholes in the backyard. Of girls who play with dolls and wear too much lace, she has low opinions, and hardly counts herself in the girl camp at all until some unfamiliar feelings surface for her stickball buddy, Charlie. When her baby sister, Nancy, is born, Carolyn decides that being a girl is really okay, now that she has an ally in the family. The era in which the story takes place is never specified, and while Carolyn's voice is contemporary, some of the problems she faces are dated, e.g., having to wear a dress to school and being unable to have her own paper route because she is a girl. Regardless, her irreverent narration is engaging and she's refreshingly astute about family and neighborhood dynamics. Blithely entertaining. (Fiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: March 31, 1997
ISBN: 0-06-026671-6
Page Count: 163
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Outstanding full-color underwater photos of coral and an occasionally lyrical text make this intriguing for browsing, but it is more evocative than scientific. The photos are not captioned except by the text—and they're often superimposed on other photos so that it's not clear whether the same segment of coral is shown under greater magnification or whether it's a different coral altogether. Fine for eliciting a sense of wonder, but more facts would be helpful. For a wider-ranging, more scientific treatment, see Taylor's Coral Reef (below). Fragile binding; no index. (Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: April 2, 1992
ISBN: 0-671-77068-3
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1992
The school is buying video equipment with the proceeds from a scrap-metal drive, and the student who collects the most cans will get to direct the first film! Suddenly discovering that she's always wanted to make movies, Jenny springs into action- -plundering her neighbors' recycling bins, nagging her sitter and parents to buy more canned goods, even recruiting everyone in her grandparents' apartment building. It's not that easy—classmate Beth has turned from best friend to rival, and even the indomitable Jenny is temporarily discouraged when two big bags of her cans are inadvertently thrown away. Though little Wilson Wynn is the surprise contest winner, Jenny regains both friend and self-confidence by the end. A generous number of amiable b&w illustrations echo this light story's cheerful humor. Sixth in a popular series. (Fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Dec. 2, 1991
ISBN: 0-316-15356-7
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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