Taylor's comedies Agnes the Sheep (1991) and this latest have in common not only references to wool culture, but a zany point-of- view and some fairly unravelled scenes of domestic life in New Zealand. Charles is alarmed by the news of his mother's pregnancy, but makes a bet with precocious next-door neighbor Alice Pepper that he will knit a sweater for the little nipper by the time it is born. At stake: either he will pay her five dollars a week for the rest of her life, or she will bequeath to him all her notorious collections, including her assembly of skulls. Charles takes knitting lessons from a curmugeonly teacher, the very one to have unjustly suspended him from the hockey team for using bad language (Alice is the guilty party). He is able to keep his project a secret from nearly everyone; his two best chums ``catch'' him at it and sit down to revel in their own feats of knitting prowess. This is but one of many unexpected twists that will needle the funny bones of most middle graders; regular references to Charles's mother's expanding ``boobs'' will nail down the peculiar interests of the rest. With unpredictably comical depictions that never lapse into caricature, and descriptions of the sweater's progress that are a study in gleeful boyish pride, this blithe look at an expectant family has no dropped stitches. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-590-45778-0
Page Count: 101
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
An exciting and involving rescue tale, especially for horse-loving readers.
When forest fires threaten her family’s horses, a Montana girl puts her courage to the test in this middle-grade novel.
Although her room is overflowing with model horses, Cricket O’Conner finds training the real animals to be irritating, especially when it comes to an ornery blue roan named Gonna Be. But Cricket has to work on the family’s Montana ranch even today—her 12th birthday. With her gift money, she buys a china horse painted with flames; Fuego, as she calls him, sometimes seems more than just a figurine. He stars in her daydream adventures, but when fast-moving wildfires threaten the community, Cricket must put aside imaginary conflicts and pitch in. After helping rescue a neighbor’s many pets (including 30 cats), Cricket returns home to discover that two colts are missing. Her mother, frantically trying to protect the ranch before they must evacuate, says there’s no time to find them. But Fuego seems to tell her a different story: “It’s up to you and Gonna Be. You need to figure out a way to find the colts. They’re in trouble.” Slipping out with Gonna Be, Cricket embarks on an arduous search that will challenge the colt’s mettle and her own. In her novel, Sheila Ruble nicely dovetails the plot with Cricket’s growing maturity. The girl shines in the pet-rescue episode; unlike flustered adults, Cricket pays attention, comes up with a feasible plan, and implements it. And hunting for the lost colts allows Cricket to appreciate what she’s been teaching—and learning from—Gonna Be. Fuego’s supernatural intervention is perhaps unnecessary but works as a symbol of Cricket’s newfound inner direction. Debut illustrator Robert Ruble, the author’s husband, provides appealing images. Though digitally created, they feel like hand-drawn pencil work and enhance the text, including a picture of a grumpy marmalade cat who figures in the plot.
An exciting and involving rescue tale, especially for horse-loving readers.Pub Date: March 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-98-525821-4
Page Count: 278
Publisher: Barking Dog Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Shannon follows up True Lies (1997) with more retold anecdotes, drawn from a variety of folk traditions, in which words say more, or less, than they seem to. “ ‘I got a hundred on my math and history tests!’ ” exclaims one child (in other words, two 50s); another insists that she didn’t touch one cookie (though she did touch, and eat, every other one in the jar); a man being led off to jail elicits outrage by claiming that he was arrested just for picking up a rope, somehow neglecting to mention that there was a cow attached to it, and so forth. O’Brien (The Farmer in the Dell, 2000, etc.) adds whimsy with button-eyed figures in diverse dress and settings; Shannon provides explanations on the page following each mini-tale, and appends notes on sources and variants. Here’s grist for storytellers and smooth talkers of any age. (Folktales. 8-12)
Pub Date: May 31, 2001
ISBN: 0-688-17643-7
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2001
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