Twelve-year-old Abby O’Malley does not want to be a private detective like her mother. She just wants to be normal, have a normal family and perhaps be a gold-medalist skier. Abby resists sleuth work partly due to her decidedly abnormal knack for it—a mysterious psychic ability that has helped crack real-life cases. (When Abby was younger, these visions were deemed “just her imagination” by a teacher, or, as she heard it, her “Magic Nation.”) When Abby tells her best friend Paige about her powers, Paige is anxious to capitalize upon them, digging up mysteries to solve and, unfortunately, treating Abby as something of a circus monkey. It’s disappointing that by the end Paige still doesn’t understand how insensitive she is in exploiting Abby’s abilities. Still, readers will find plenty to relate to here: a close, oft-stormy preteen friendship; Abby’s wish to reunite her divorced parents; Paige’s obnoxious-but-not-irredeemable brothers; ski-trip antics and flirtations; and, of course, the excitement of detective work. While the themes are often belabored, this remains a lively, engaging read. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2005
ISBN: 0-385-73085-3
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers will cheer the birth of this comedian.
Eleven-year-old Yumi Chung doesn’t have anyone to sit with at lunch, but she secretly harbors dreams of becoming a comedian. Shy + Asian + Girl = Comedian? Why, yes. Yes, it does.
Winston Preparatory Academy is a shy person’s nightmare. Yumi hides from the beautiful girls and the bullies who call her “Yu-meat” because she smells like her parents’ Korean barbecue restaurant. This summer, her parents are demanding that she go to Korean summer school, or hagwon, to get a near-perfect score on the high school entrance exam—because that is the only way to attend an elite college, like her superachiever sister, a 20-year-old med student. Yumi collects all of her fears and frustrations (and jokes) in her Super-Secret Comedy Notebook. When a case of mistaken identity allows her to attend a comedy camp taught by her YouTube idol, Yumi is too panicked to correct the problem—and then it spirals out of control. With wonderful supporting characters, strong pacing, and entertaining comedy bits, debut author Kim has woven a pop song of immigrant struggle colliding with comedy and Korean barbecue. With their feet in two different cultures, readers listen in on honest conversations, full of halting English and unspoken truths painting a realistic picture of 21st-century first-generation Americans—at least a Korean version. By becoming someone else, Yumi learns more about herself and her family in an authentic and hilarious way.
Readers will cheer the birth of this comedian. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-525-55497-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Kokila
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
The Baudelaire children—Violet, 14, Klaus, 12, and baby Sunny—are exceedingly ill-fated; Snicket extracts both humor and horror from their situation, as he gleefully puts them through one terrible ordeal after another. After receiving the news that their parents died in a fire, the three hapless orphans are delivered into the care of Count Olaf, who “is either a third cousin four times removed, or a fourth cousin three times removed.” The villainous Count Olaf is morally depraved and generally mean, and only takes in the downtrodden yet valiant children so that he can figure out a way to separate them from their considerable inheritance. The youngsters are able to escape his clutches at the end, but since this is the first installment in A Series of Unfortunate Events, there will be more ghastly doings. Written with old-fashioned flair, this fast-paced book is not for the squeamish: the Baudelaire children are truly sympathetic characters who encounter a multitude of distressing situations. Those who enjoy a little poison in their porridge will find it wicked good fun. (b&w illustrations, not seen) (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-440766-7
Page Count: 162
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
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