by Nie Jun ; illustrated by Nie Jun ; translated by Edward Gauvin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2018
Featuring family and friendships, this title is recommended for curious young readers looking for some magic in the everyday.
A young Chinese girl and her grandpa navigate life’s challenges and joys in a small neighborhood of Beijing.
In this graphic–short story collection, the author introduces readers to Yu’er, a girl with an unspecified physical disability that limits her mobility, and her loving grandfather. The first story opens with her dream of becoming a champion swimmer and a belief strong enough to carry her above her naysayers. From there, readers meet a boy who helps her fight off bullies, encounter the fantastical properties of an old mailbox, and finish by witnessing Yu’er’s reconciliation with a grumpy neighbor. Whimsical and sweet, this will remind readers of animated movies such as My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service. With no fancy fight scenes or action shots, this is a slow and quiet delivery presented in a bright and warm palette of watercolors. Scenes depicted are plangent and sweet evocations of childhood, as in the “Bug Paradise” retreat Yu’er’s new friend shares with her and the story her retired-letter-carrier grandpa tells her via his stamp collection. The few cultural and translation footnotes help readers who may be confused by or unfamiliar with certain Chinese terminology or history.
Featuring family and friendships, this title is recommended for curious young readers looking for some magic in the everyday. (sketchbook, author’s note) (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5415-2642-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
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by Nie Jun ; translated by Edward Gauvin with Helen Chao ; illustrated by Nie Jun
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by Nie Jun ; translated by Edward Gauvin ; illustrated by Nie Jun
by Katherine Applegate ; illustrated by Patricia Castelao ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2024
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
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by Katherine Applegate & Gennifer Choldenko ; illustrated by Wallace West
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by Katherine Applegate ; illustrated by Patricia Castelao
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by Katherine Applegate ; illustrated by Charles Santoso
by Jeff Kinney ; illustrated by Jeff Kinney ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 5, 2019
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
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
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by Jeff Kinney ; illustrated by Jeff Kinney
by Jeff Kinney ; illustrated by Jeff Kinney
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