A brilliant, bushy-tailed bildungsroman.
During the first four seasons of his life, the titular gray squirrel learns to embrace his “only-ness.”
This illustrated novel begins with Toaff leaping about treetops, excitedly discovering his innate, gray-squirrel abilities. “Sometimes everything was so wonderful that all you could do was whuffle” (a term used abundantly throughout the book). Toaff’s life has begun in a large, multifamily den on a farm, in an upright, dead tree. A violent winter storm forces him to find new lodgings—by himself. He uses knowledge imparted by his elders to forage, evade and/or escape predators, as well as to build himself a new home. There are many false starts in the latter process, but Toaff cheerfully perseveres. Encounters with other animals, especially with a red squirrel named Nilf, lead him to question some of his accumulated gray-squirrel lore and to become a better person—err, squirrel. With the same agility that Toaff displays in scrambling up his favorite hickory tree, the text intertwines the factual with the fanciful. This includes pervasive, gentle humor, such as these gray-squirrel perceptions: The farm’s humans live in a “big white nest” near their “big red nest.” The text also offers reassurance to young readers that squirrels—unlike humans—likely meet with equanimity such happenstances as the sudden loss of a home—or a mother. The tale’s ending is perfect. The pen-and-ink illustrations support the plotline and the text's borderline realism, and they show the human family of three to be white.
A brilliant, bushy-tailed bildungsroman. (Animal fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-6536-1
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
Not the most satisfying wrap-up, but it’s always good to spend time in the world of this series.
Beloved gorilla Ivan becomes a father to rambunctious twins in this finale to a quartet that began with 2012’s Newbery Award–winning The One and Only Ivan.
Life hasn’t always been easy for silverback gorilla Ivan, who’s spent most of his life being mistreated in captivity. Now he’s living in a wildlife sanctuary, but he still gets to see his two best friends. Young elephant Ruby lives in the grassy habitat next door, and former stray dog Bob has a home with one of the zookeepers. All three were rescued from the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. Ivan’s expanded world includes fellow gorilla Kinyani—the two are about to become parents, and Ivan is revisiting the traumas of his past in light of what he wants the twins to know. When the subject inevitably comes up, Applegate’s trust and respect for readers is evident. She doesn’t shy away from hard truths as Ivan wrestles with the fact that poachers killed his family. Readers will need the context provided by knowledge of the earlier books to feel the full emotional impact of this story. The rushed ending unfortunately falls flat, detracting from the central message that a complex life can still contain hope. Final art not seen.
Not the most satisfying wrap-up, but it’s always good to spend time in the world of this series. (gorilla games, glossary, author’s note) (Verse fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9780063221123
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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